


Dreams of Monsters

by Jenny_Vastra



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 64,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26679241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenny_Vastra/pseuds/Jenny_Vastra
Summary: In London the grey sky tempts to sleep in the afternoons... And in the mornings... News of people falling asleep and only being able to wake up when forced reach Paternoster Row 13. At first, Vastra and her companions don't think too much of it, but when the cases of people seemingly falling asleep out of nothing pile up and Jenny starts mentioning sand coming out of the victim's eyes, Vastra is both concerned and interested in the case.
Relationships: Jenny Flint/Madame Vastra
Comments: 63
Kudos: 25





	1. New case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A call arrives at Paternoster Row. The man on the other end seems desperate for help.  
> Vastra decides this might be an opportunity to have a little holiday as well.

Ring ring.  
Jenny rushed down the stairs, sighing under her breath. “Comin’… Stop ringing, you damn thing… If it’s those small bastards again, I’ll beat their little arses…”  
She picked up and tried not letting her annoyance show. This was the fourth call today.  
Two of the prior ones were prank calls by some children who seemed to have too much free time. They should be at school or working! But who was she to judge; they weren’t her children after all. Perhaps better that way. Jenny surely wouldn’t let them play such stupid tricks on hard working people as herself and her madame.  
The third call earlier this day was just Inspector Aberline thanking the Great Detective for helping out in a case a few days back.  
“Paternoster Row, who’s speaking?”  
Jenny rolled her eyes at the silence at the other end. Another one of those stupid tricks. Just when she wanted to hang up, a low voice answered the phone.  
“Hello? I… I need help.”  
Quickly she placed the receiver up to her ear again.  
“You need help? How may the Veiled Detective help you with your problem?” They hardly ever had anyone calling this line directly, most of their cases were brought to their doorstep by Scotland Yard.  
“Please, help me.”  
“Yes, yes… Sir, who is speaking?”  
“I’m Lord Ascot. Please, it’s… my wife. Something happened to her…” The voice on the other end seemed to be somewhat scared, frightened even. If Jenny had to imagine the man calling, he’d be sweating, pale face, shaking hands.  
“Have you talked to Scotland Yard before? Normally they are the ones to turn to in cases of-“ She was interrupted.  
“She’s sleeping!”  
A puzzled look rested on Jenny’s face. “It’s 8pm… Perhaps she’s just tired? I wouldn’t know why that would be a case for the Veiled-“ Once again, Lord Ascot cut her off mid-sentence.  
“She’s been sleeping all day! Please, the police won’t listen! You… You’re my last hope, you’re the Great Detective after all…”  
“Me? Trust me, I’m merely her assistant…”

Crazy…  Jenny thought. 

Who?  
Jenny jumped a little as she heard a soft voice in her head. She’d never get used to hearing Vastra’s voice in her head all of the sudden. The room started feeling a little warmer, a scientific impossibility, of course, but with Vastra around her, Jenny always felt a little warmer.  
The lizard walked over to her wife and placed her arms around Jenny’s waist.  
“Hello? Are you still there??” Lord Ascot sounded even more desperate than before.  
“Yes! Yes, of course I am… The Madame is here now… If you would like to talk to the Great Detective herself…” Jenny knew full well how much Vastra enjoyed being called those names, she was never one to be modest in any way.  
“I… I could do that?” His voice lifted a little.  
Jenny nodded, only to realise he couldn’t see her doing that. She could feel Vastra leaning her head to one side, confused as to why her love nodded when talking over the phone. A sly grin laid on her lips as she leaned down a little, her eyes focused on Jenny’s neck. Vastra’s breath speeded up a little when she placed a slight kiss down at her wife’s skin, feeling her shiver under the soft touch. This spurred Vastra on, she did it again, Jenny’s heartbeat speeding up a little.  
Stop… Jenny begged, only leading to an even wider grin in the lizard’s face and more passionate kisses down her neck.  
You don’t want me to.  
You’re right…  
She leaned into the soft kisses, tilting her head to one side, letting Vastra do as she pleased, it was to Jenny’s pleasure as well after all…

“Hello?” The voice from the receiver interrupted their lovely moment. Both of them gave the phone a puzzled look. Jenny blushed a little, she forgot she was still holding it.  
“Y… Yes, I’ll get my Madame… Hold on a minute, sir…”  
Jenny turned around to face Vastra, looking up into her bright blue eyes. Without her noticing her lips opened a little, her breath speeded up. It felt as if Vastra was looking deep into Jenny’s soul, a feeling she loved. More than anything.  
We should not let him wait…  
We should. Just a little.  
Vastra leaned forward, gently connecting her lips with Jenny’s. She could feel the warm, human lips longing for more, pulling Jenny closer. Her hands still rested at Jenny’s waist, now slowly wandering a little, finding Jenny’s soft spots, making her giggle a bit into the kisses. All this just encouraged Vastra to get more passionate, her lizard tongue gently stroking over Jenny’s lips until they opened – just a little – enough for Vastra’s tongue to slide in.  
Their kisses didn’t stop until some noise was to hear from the phone again.  
Vastra let out a lo growl, her eyes fixing the phone. She wanted to get rid of the distraction, have Jenny for herself now, right now.  
A warm hand was placed against the lizard’s cold cheek, a slight shushing sound reached her ears.  
The blue eyes wandered back to those dark brown ones again, getting lost in them. Vastra’s expression softened as she leaned into Jenny’s loving touch.  
Not wanting to let go of Jenny she wrapped one arm around her love, picking up the phone with the other.

“You’re speaking to the Veiled Detective. My w-…” She glanced over at Jenny, biting her lip. Then she took a deep breath before she continued. “I was informed that you require our help. Would you care to explain the matter to me?”  
Vastra couldn’t stand calling Jenny her maid. She wanted to call her wife, shout it out into the world. But she couldn’t. And she knew that. In this primitive world of apes, Jenny would be the one who would have to pay the price. She’d be an outcast to society, a sinner, someone no one wanted to talk to. The thought of Jenny being treated like that alone was enough to make her growl again.  
Apes tended to deplore everything unknown to them. Or everything they didn’t want to accept due to the primitivity of their little brains.  
Apes she used to hunt just for fun back in her time…  
Of course, she’d never do that today, not with Jenny by her side. Jenny was an exception; among all the apes she had met, Jenny was so different. She wasn’t disgusted at Vastra’s appearance, most apes were frightened when facing a Silurian.  
Again, they didn’t know such people existed, it was abnormal. Everything that was outside the grasp of their funny little brains was to be damned.

A movement at Vastra’s chest brought her back to the present. Jenny had placed her head over Vastra’s heart, listening to her heartbeat. Her favourite sound in the world. A soft smile rested on Jenny’s lips as her breath slowed down a little to match the lizard’s beating heart.  
“… And then, a few weeks ago, she started feeling tired in the middle of the afternoon… We went back to her chamber where she…”  
Lord Ascot continued on talking, Vastra listened only with half an ear. She was occupied with other things at the moment, things she considered a bit more important than a man’s wife going to bed early.  
Her hand slowly caressed Jenny’s back, running up and down.  
“Let me stop you there… This seems to go on for a bit. What would you say about us coming to visit you tomorrow?” Vastra sighed a little, Jenny’s head moved again.  
“Hm?” She made and looked up into the lizard’s eyes.  
“You would do that? That… That would be perfect!”  
“I will, of course, calculate what the journey will cost… We will leave tomorrow morning.” She looked down at Jenny, a slight smile curling up her lips as she placed her head on Jenny’s, breathing in her wonderful scent.  
Jenny’s hair was pinned up as always, well, almost always. Just a few times the woman had allowed the Silurian to run her scaled hands through those long dark brown locks. Yet, it was something Vastra deeply craved to do more often. It was such a shame Jenny didn’t wear her hair open more often. What was it for then? If not for playing with it?  
Vastra let out a little sigh and felt the head under hers move. Two dark eyes fixing her own. A shiver ran down Vastra’s spine.  
“Thank you so much! I shall expect you here tomorrow afternoon then…”

Vastra handed Jenny the phone and gave her a slight kiss on the forehead. Jenny understood, she should note the address.  
She rolled with her eyes a little and looked back up at Vastra again.  
Is that all you need me for?  
Of course not, my dearest ape…  
Stop calling me that, grumpy lizard…  
Jenny now pouted, knowing full well this was one of Vastra’s (many) weak spots. She freed herself from the embrace, opening the wooden drawer in one swift move as she turned from Vastra. Without even looking she got a notepad and a pen out and started writing down the dictated address.  
“Thank you very much, we will see how we can help… Good night!”  
She was talking in a hurry at the end, almost as she was sensing what Vastra was planning to do; pull her back into an embrace, away from phone and drawer.

“Don’t pout.”  
“What?”  
Jenny let out a slight giggle.  
“I don’t like it.”  
Vastra nuzzled her face into Jenny’s shoulder and let out a soft growl, which sounded almost like a purr. Even though Jenny couldn’t see her lover’s face, she knew full well she was at least a little flustered.

*********

“So, tomorrow we’re off then?”  
“Yes, it would seem so…” Vastra nodded, or whatever the movement of agreement was she made, still not letting go of Jenny.  
“Perhaps we could… Combine it with a little holiday? Strax hasn’t been out in a few weeks… I’m sure he’ll be happy to know we are going to drive out to the countryside…”  
“Perhaps he’ll stop using his explosives in Paternoster Row if we give him the weekends off…”  
As if it was summoned by their conversation, a loud explosion was to hear from the backyard, followed by a loud “SONTAR-HA!”  
Both, Jenny and Vastra, jumped.  
“Bloody ‘ell! If Strax doesn’t stop this, I’ll take his weapons away again!”  
“Again, whatever are you talking about, my dear? You’ve done that before?”  
The woman nodded and let her head sink against Vastra’s chest. “He must’ve found them… Didn’t think he’d be able to climb a tree, is he?”  
Vastra let out a soft laughter. “Oh, my dearest Jenny… He’s a Sontaran warrior… If he wants to get his explosives, he will do anything in his power… Or even out of his power, on that account. STRAX?” Vastra’s voice sounded through the house, then footsteps came closer, quite fast.  
“Yes, Madame? May I assist in anything? Eh… Why are you holding the boy like this? Is he likable to faint? Are you not feeling well, boy?”  
Strax stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, his clothes ripped apart on one side. In his hand he held a twig, poorly splintered in half, still smoking a little.  
“No, Jenny is quite alright, Strax. No need to worry about her. What were you doing outside? We could hear an explosion…”  
Jenny lifted her head a little, bringing some distance between her and Vastra. One eyebrow raised, she looked at Strax and sighed. “What have you done to the poor tree this twig is from?”  
“Well, boy, the tree seems to have stolen my grenades! I had to seek vengeance! And as I may state: Mission complete!”  
His face was plastered with an expression of pure delight.  
Vastra took a deep breath, she could imagine far too well what the Sontaran did to the poor tree.  
“You… blew up a tree… for… taking your weapons…”  
“But… But the tree didn’t…”  
“Hush, Jenny… Strax will get a new tree as soon as we return from our little journey… It was your favourite tree after all, wasn’t it?” Vastra’s eyes fixed Jenny’s, telling her to not say anything else. Strax wouldn’t be delighted to find out Jenny was the one hiding his grenades up there.  
“Alright… But he has to plant it as well…” Jenny huffed and buried her face in Vastra’s chest again, breathing in Vastra’s intoxicating scent.  
Strax’s joy faded quickly as he heard his new ‘mission’. “Alright, boy… If you insist, I will buy you a new tree…”  
“Thank you, Strax… Stupid aggressive potato head…” Jenny murmured, barely understandable.  
Vastra chuckled a little. “Jenny, my dear… If you wish for Strax to understand anything of what you just said, you probably should not mumble it into my chest, hm?”  
She slid her hand between her chest and Jenny’s face, gently pushing her away a little, studying Jenny’s soft face lovingly. Slowly she placed her scaled hand against Jenny’s warm skin, the woman leaned into the touch and closed her eyes, giving her wife a soft smile. Both were caught up in this perfect moment. Perfect, until Strax suddenly lit the little twig he was holding in his hand, the smell of smoke filling the air.  
“Strax!” The two women shouted in unison.  
“Not in the house! Out!” Jenny quickly opened the front door, pointing out.  
With a grumble the Sontaran marched outside, dropping the remains of the poor twig, now nothing more than a tiny bit of wood and a pile of ashes.

As soon as Strax came back in, Vastra glared at him with narrowed eyes. “Strax, we talked about that. Do not, under any circumstances, burn things inside the house! Or… Anywhere it could do harm, in fact! Hand over your grenades!”  
She held out her hands and gestured Jenny to do the same.  
“But Madame!”  
“Hand them over! Now, Strax!”  
“Fiinee… Follow me.”  
He started walking down the hallway, shifting the carpet on purpose, knowing quite well Jenny would be the one to fix it. He ran against a drawer to make the precious glasses on it fall, spit in a corner, in short, left the whole hallway in chaos.  
Jenny rolled her eyes and gave a low grunt, knowing she would have to clean up after him. Strax was behaving like a rampaging child.  
Vastra grabbed Jenny’s hand to feel her beautiful warmth, at least a little, as they made their way through the house until they reached the backyard.  
Strax held the door open for the two of them to step outside.  
“Here you go, Madame…”

But as soon as they stepped outside, he slammed the door behind them, locking them out.  
“You will not get my grenades!”  
“Strax! Let us back in! Strax! STRAX!” Vastra shouted, hammering against the wooden door. It was a chilly night, relatively normal for mid-October. Vastra of course refused going outside more than necessary that time of the year, her being cold blooded.  
“I… I don’t think that’ll have an effect, ma’am…” Jenny rubbed her arms, feeling a little chilly as well, just after being outside for a few minutes.  
“Strax, let us back in! Right now!” The Silurian’s voice turned more dangerous, she hissed every now and then.  
“Never! Hahahaha!”  
They could just listen as his steps diverged from the door.

“Damn it!” Vastra hissed again. She was just wearing her casual gown. Fires were lit in almost every room; Jenny had made sure of that. And while the Silurian was still a bit cold inside when she wasn’t directly next to one of the fires, she always had Jenny, her lovely human, who would warm her up.  
“Ma’am… You cold, aren’t you?” She asked quietly and started removing her coat. She was bringing in logs for the fires just before the call had arrived, so she was still wearing it.  
“Jenny, it’s cold out here… You can’t…”  
“Of course, I can… You’re a cold blood after all… Now let me put it on and then we’ll see about this little lock…”  
A sly smile on Jenny’s lips, she never went anywhere without her lock picks. Of course, she couldn’t tell Vastra, but it had happened more than once that she was picking the locks in Vastra’s house, not for stealing anything, of course! Just when she forgot her keys or Strax thought it would be a great idea collecting all the keys and hide them.  
“Now, may I?” Quickly she helped Vastra in her own coat. It was a bit too short, Jenny being shorter than Vastra. But it had to do for now.

“Maybe I can heat up your blood another way as well…” Jenny caressed Vastra’s emerald cheek and came to stand on her tiptoes. Gently she placed her lips on the lizard’s, shivering at how cold they already were.  
Warming me up? That’s what you call it, love?  
Does it work?  
Perfectly.  
Vastra now took the lead, wrapping her arms around Jenny, pulling her closer. Their kisses became more passionate and either could feel the burning heat inside grow as Vastra opened her mouth the slightest bit, letting Jenny’s tongue in. Sighs of pleasure escaped from Jenny’s mouth when Vastra’s fingers started pulling at her collar, wanting the blouse to open and make way for her to pleasure Jenny even more.  
During kisses, Jenny managed to gasp a quiet “Ma’am…” which was carelessly ignored by the lizard who now pushed her wife against the wall.  
Jenny didn’t mind any of this, she wanted to kiss Vastra, right now. More than anything. She wanted to be close to her, never let go.  
But part of her knew Vastra wasn’t one to deal with the cold, they could enjoy each other much more inside. Besides, Strax still had to be punished for what he did.

“Ma’am… Ma-… Mmmhhh…” Jenny made as Vastra gently placed kisses all around her neck. “Vastra…” She now whispered, quite aroused. Her cheeks were reddened, her body not wanting her to disrupt this wonderful moment.  
The Silurian leaned her head to one side at the mention of her name. Jenny hardly ever called her that, she always preferred calling her ma’am or love.  
“Yes, Jenny, my love?”  
“We… should get back inside…”  
Her voice was trembling; she didn’t know whether it was from the cold air or her lust for Vastra, trying to force her to forget all sense and just be hers for the rest of the night.  
“Yes, but how do we do that? Strax locked the door and I haven’t exactly got a key to the back door in my casual clothes…”  
“I… Might have something that could help us get back in.”  
Jenny pulled out her lock picks and immediately blushed at Vastra’s disbelieving gaze.  
“Why do you have those in your pockets, my love?”  
“Uhm… No specific reason… It was sheer coincidence, ma’am…”  
She gave her wife the most innocent smile, watching as Vastra’s eyes wandered down to Jenny’s lips. She thought about that as well, the thought of kissing Vastra’s cool soft lips always present in her head.  
“Alright then, my dear…”

Vastra’s blue eyes started sparkling as she watched her wife kneel down in front of the door, inspecting the lock. Swiftly she took out her lockpicks and started her work.  
A shiver ran through the lizard’s body. She was cold, in need of a source of heat. Quietly she stepped behind Jenny and hugged her from behind, pressing her own body against the warm body in front of her.  
“You’re cold, hm?”  
Jenny sighed a little and placed the lockpicks back down. She turned around to face her love and gently cupped her scaled and now cold face.  
“If I pick this lock now, we can get back into the warm house… And then we can…”  
She didn’t continue, Vastra knew quite well what she was talking about. The smile that slowly formed on her lips reassured Jenny Vastra had the same thing in mind.  
“Alright… But hurry, love… I’m freezing…”  
“I know… Don’t complain or I’ll make you wait a little longer…”

The Silurian growled a little and buried her face in Jenny’s chest. She tried absorbing all the heat Jenny was emitting, she could already feel her limps moving slower than normal. In need of some more warmth she put her hands up to cup Jenny’s face.  
She squealed when the ice-cold Silurian hands touched her, trying to absorb all her body warmth. The scaled hands were shuddering; she couldn’t see but feel it.  
Jenny was shaking a little bit as well, she sat there in her (and especially Vastra’s) favourite waistcoat, holding her wife as close as she could, trying to warm her up at least a little. Her cheeks were reddened; she couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or because of Vastra.  
“Let’s get to it, then… If we stay out any longer, you’ll be a frozen lizard…”  
Though this being intended as a joke, Jenny’s voice sounded more concerned than joking.  
“Yes, my love…”  
Vastra nodded and slowly let go of Jenny, her hands slipping down, now visibly shaking. The cold made her unable to move her fingers as she wanted, they must feel like ice to Jenny.

*********

After just a few more minutes the door clicked, and Jenny pushed it open. With a smirk she got back up and pulled Vastra close, walking her in.  
“Here we go, ma’am… Now let’s warm you up in front of the fire…”  
In the dimmed light of the corridor, Jenny noticed how pale Vastra looked. Her emerald scales looked all pallid. With a look of concern, she closed the door behind both of them and placed her hand at the lizard’s cheek.  
“You’re… cold… Freezing… Come on now…”  
Of course, she noticed Vastra was moving much slower than usual. Jenny couldn’t stand seeing Vastra so vulnerable. Only a few times this had happened before, she had sworn to never let this happen again. And now it has happened again.  
I’m alright…  
Vastra’s voice suddenly sounded in Jenny’s head. Confused she looked up at her lover and gulped.  
Sure?  
Yes, my dear. Don’t worry too much.  
If you say so…  
She’d punish Strax for what he did to Vastra, this was clear. What did he think he was doing? Didn’t he realize what could’ve happened to her?  
When walking up the stairs they suddenly heard steps behind them, Jenny turned around.

Strax was looking to the ground, his hands behind his back.  
“Sorry for locking you outside, ma’am, boy…”  
“Sorry, eh? Didn’t you realize what could’ve happened if I didn’t have my lockpicks with me??”  
Jenny clearly was angry at Strax, understandable; he locked them out after all. Vastra let out a quiet growl and placed her head on Jenny’s chest, trying to calm her down. She was still freezing, and her wife’s warm body relaxed her more than she’d ever admit to anyone but her love.  
Slowly Strax handed them a bag and a little something neither Jenny nor Vastra knew what to do with.  
“All my weaponry. And a little gift for you.”  
Jenny eyed it with suspicion, trying to figure out what exactly it was Strax just handed her. She sighed. Although her still being a little angry at him, she decided it was best for the relations in this house to not let her anger take over. Vastra wouldn’t like that as well, after all.  
“Alright… What exactly is this?”  
The Sontaran gasped with widened eyes.  
“It’s you! I found some remains of my self-built explosives and decided to make you a little present! Are you implying you do not like it, boy!?”  
Vastra lifted her head a little, hissing at Strax. No more fighting for today, she decided. She was exhausted and they all needed sleep before leaving tomorrow.  
“Whatever… Thanks anyway…”

She turned at her heel, wanting to get up the stairs when she suddenly remembered the phone call earlier.  
“Strax? Would you please pack our bags and ready the carriage for tomorrow morning? We’re leaving for a case… Probably… Someone asked for our help!”  
“And no explosives…”  
Vastra added quietly. Strax seemed disappointed.  
“But-“  
“You heard Madame! No explosives! And please clean up the mess you’ve made earlier…”  
“Alright, boy… Is Madame alright? I can release her from her pains in only a few seconds! Let me quickly grab my laser gun and-“  
“No, Strax… She’s just cold… Because YOU locked us outside…”  
Jenny couldn’t quite hide the anger in her voice, immediately relaxing when Vastra rubbed her head against her chest. She leaned down until her own head was resting on her wife’s, inhaling her beautiful smell.

“Let’s get you to your room… We have to warm you up…”  
Jenny whispered and continued walking the stairs, holding Vastra close to her.  
Gently she pushed the dark wooden door open and moved towards the gleaming coals in the fireplace. Slowly she placed Vastra down in front of the fire and grabbed a few logs to throw them into the faintly glowing fire.  
“Sit down here, ma’am… I will heat you up in just a minute…”  
Quickly she placed the timbers into the fireplace and got some blankets to wrap around Vastra’s cold body. With those she came back to her wife and sat down.  
A pallid hand slowly but firmly pulled on Jenny’s sleeve, two bright blue eyes staring up at her in the twilit of the room.  
A smile curled Jenny lips as she slowly started unbuttoning her waistcoat, only to watch Vastra’s eyes sparkle in excitement. Knowing exactly how much she was teasing Vastra, Jenny purposely failed to unbutton it completely.  
This made the lizard growl a little as she pulled Jenny close and placed her head at Jenny’s chest, immediately feeling a little bit warmer.  
Jenny bit her lip so she wouldn’t squeal; Vastra’s skin still felt like ice. With her left hand she placed a blanket around both of them and then started caressing the Silurian’s cold scales. Her dark brown eyes were staring into the flickering flames, fascinated by the red, orange, and yellow dancing in front of her, warming up her beloved wife. Her beloved wife who was now resting at her chest with closed eyes.  
A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as she peered at Vastra who already fell asleep on her chest.  
“My tired lizard…” Jenny mumbled and scooped up her love, carrying her to bed.  
She noticed how her eyelids opened a little, looking up at her at the verge of drifting back into the land of dreams.  
Slowly nodding Jenny placed Vastra in bed and gently kissed her forehead. As quickly and quietly as she could she slipped out of her clothes and put on her nightie to join the lizard in bed. Jenny laid down next to Vastra, wrapped her warm arms around the still chilly body and gave her wife one last kiss before drifting off to sleep as well…


	2. On their way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paternosters are on their way to Lord Ascot who invited them to investigate. Jenny is a bit sleepy as she was checking that Vastra wasn't too cold last night.

„Hurry, horse! Or I will gladly obliterate you!” Strax yelled and already pulled out his giant laser gun.  
“No, Strax… Give it to me…” Vastra sighed and took the weapon from the Sontaran’s hand, for which she received a threat of being skinned alive. She just rolled her eyes and stepped inside the carriage again.  
Jenny was leaning against the window and lifted her head only when Vastra started chuckling.  
She hadn’t slept much, making sure Vastra was warming up and the fire kept burning till morning.  
“Is anythin’ wrong?” She quietly asked, hiding a yawn behind her hand.  
“Nothing, my dear… You just seem to be a little sleepy… My my… You apes always are so sleepy, hm?”  
“Just makin’ sure you weren’t freezing to death at night…” Jenny grumbled and changed seat, so she’d sit next to Vastra; she leaned her head against the Silurian’s shoulder and closed her eyes again.  
“I’m grateful for that, my love… You’ve always done that for me… Warming me up… Protecting me against the cold and the cold judgement of ape-… humankind… Saving me from my own frozen heart by making it feel love again…”  
Vastra’s voice was soft, soothing. Her scaled hand now rested against Jenny’s warm cheek, gently caressing her. She could see how her wife relaxed and leaned into the touch; she could feel her heart beat a little faster, Jenny’s smile beaming even more warmth into the carriage.

********

They were driving for a few hours; not much happened. Jenny’s head was now resting in Vastra’s lap, making it easier for her to sleep and easier for the Silurian to caress her and watch over her. Strax had tried threatening a few passers-by, but soon calmed down and focused his anger on the poor horse which didn’t like being treated like this. He’d eat it as soon as they had arrived, he swore.  
The lizard at least got him to not kill the horse before being back at Paternoster Row and be quiet so Jenny could rest.  
Wide fields already harvested were rolling by the window of the carriage, Vastra was used to travelling with the curtains closed, as that didn’t force her to wear the veil while travelling. She didn’t want to look at all the buildings and factories the apes built to destroy the beautiful landscape anyways; and having the curtains closed also allowed her to have more intimate moments with Jenny.

It was a shame that the ape concept of marriage or a relationship in general only included a man and a woman (mostly of similar rank) being together and excluded all other sorts of love.  
What kind of god complex did those apes have to decide which love is love and which isn’t?

She would never understand. Back in her days, relationships weren’t bound to such a thing as gender; more to the feelings of being strong together.  
Vastra had often seen apes in unhappy and unhealthy relationships, fighting all day, abusing each other. If the spark of love between them had vanished (or never even existed in the first place), why would they stay together? Financial reasons?  
Sighing she shook her head and looked down at her ape again, her beautiful warm human, who was quietly sleeping in her lap, seeming to have beautiful dreams. Vastra wondered if Jenny might dream about her, smiling so happily even in her sleep.

“Jenny, my love…” Vastra’s soft voice hummed while her hand still caressed Jenny’s cheek. Eyelids fluttering, she moved her head a little and when she opened her eyes, they immediately searched the blue orbs in the lizard’s face. Her lips curled into a cute smile, the one that always made Vastra’s heart melt in the matter of seconds, and she brought her hand up to her wife’s cheek.  
“Morning, darling…” Jenny chuckled when Vastra’s scales changed colour into a darker shade of green. This was what could be described as blushing. It always made Jenny giggle even more. The Great Detective getting all shy when being called ‘darling’…  
“We will arrive soon… You’ve slept all time, my drowsy ape…”  
“Still had somethin’ to look at, eh?” Jenny asked and sat up, once again placing her head at Vastra’s shoulder.  
“Are you talking about yourself or the landscape, love?” Vastra knew damn well what Jenny was referring to, still she loved teasing her like this.  
Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed.  
“I know you like looking at me…”  
“No, dear… I don’t…”  
“What?” Jenny raised an eyebrow and sat up straight again. A slight hiss came from Vastra as chilly air hit the spot Jenny was just leaning on. She gently pulled Jenny back to her side and wrapped her cold arms around her, giving her a loving kiss on the forehead.  
“I love it, my dear… I love you… Haven’t I told you that?”  
“I love you, too…”

********

Finally, they arrived at said address. Lord Ascot was already waiting outside, seeming a bit impatient.  
“We’re here… Your veil, ma’am…”  
Jenny held out the black piece of fabric for Vastra to take; the Silurian only growled a little and glared at the veil.  
“I hate this… Stupid apes…”  
“Oi!”  
“Not you, love… You aren’t scared or disgusted by my face… You accept me as I am… But them… They damn everything unknown to their silly little brains…”  
She growled once again and buried her head in Jenny’s chest, enjoying the beautiful warmth coming from her.  
“I know… I know… Pitiful people, not being able to accept others as they are…”

Closing her eyes, she thought back to her family and started shivering, trying to rid her mind of these memories. It still made her worry sometimes… What they’d do to her if they found out that she wasn’t only married to a woman, but a lizard woman as well!  
Vastra noticed her love’s body tensing up and looked up at her.  
“Jenny? Are you alright?” Worry written all over her face, she brought her hands up to cup Jenny’s face.  
“Don’t worry, love… I am here now… You don’t have to fear anyone.”  
Jenny just gave her a little nod and opened her eyes, trying to avoid Vastra’s beautiful blue eyes.  
“Jenny… What’s wrong?”  
“Nothin’…”  
“Whenever you say that, I know something’s wrong… Tell me…”  
Jenny started biting her lip, her eyes looking everywhere except into her lover’s face.  
“Please…”  
Vastra’s voice wasn’t more than a breath now, genuine worry in her eyes.  
“I… I was just thinking about my…” 

She stopped and took a deep breath. They weren’t her family, not anymore. Not after how they treated her. Vastra and Strax were her family now. A family in which she could be exactly who she was, not having to hide.  
“… About the people I grew up with…”  
“Your family.” Vastra stated, gently brushing a strand of hair that fell out of Jenny’s bun behind her ear.  
Jenny shook her head.  
“No. You and Strax are my family. They are merely the people I happened to live with from birth till they…”  
Again, she stopped and looked down. A scaled hand was placed at her chin and brought her face up to face the lizard.  
“I know what happened… But do not worry, my love… I will always protect you… They won’t do you any harm…”  
“And you? What about you?”  
“You think they could harm me? You know what I am capable of, right?”  
A little smile appeared on Jenny’s lips and she nodded.  
“I know…”  
“We have each other… Everything will be fine… Right, my dear?”  
Once more, Jenny nodded, this time looking into Vastra’s eyes, getting lost in the ocean like blue and leaning in a little. Their lips met and both of them relaxed into the kiss, Vastra’s hands now wrapping themselves around Jenny’s body, pulling her even closer.  
Jenny was panting a little when their kiss ended, she smiled at Vastra and placed her hand at the scaled cheek again.  
“We should get going…”  
Vastra grumbled in dissatisfaction as Jenny’s lips left hers to be hit by cool air.  
“Don’t be a grumpy lizard, dear…”  
Jenny carefully put the veil on Vastra’s face and took her hand, caressing it a little.  
“I hate this veil…”  
“I hate playing your maid…” Jenny now complained, knowing well she would have to keep up this façade.  
Vastra sighed and nodded.  
“It has to be, my love… In order to be together we have to maintain the image of a widow and her maid to the outside world…”  
“I know… And so, you must wear a veil as well… To maintain the image of being a widow…”  
“You’re right… Let’s go then…”

Vastra got up, opening the curtains a little. Lord Ascot’s face immediately lit up and he waved at her.  
“Ma’am… Gloves…” Jenny whispered and pulled Vastra’s hand back down.  
“Oh… Yeah… Right… Must’ve left them at home…”  
Jenny sighed and pulled out her own gloves, carefully putting them at Vastra’s hands, her fingers lingering on the Silurian’s hand much longer than necessary.  
“Here we go…”

Again, Vastra put her hand up and slightly waved back at the man who now came over to open the cab door. His hand held out, waiting for Vastra to reach for it.  
Behind her veil she rolled her eyes but nodded and let him help her out of the carriage.  
“The Veiled Detective… Finally, you are here… My wife, she… She just fell asleep again… Come, I will show you her-…” He stopped when he realized that the Veiled Detective wasn’t following him but was in fact holding out her hand to help another person. Her maid.  
Jenny could see Vastra’s smile behind the veil and smiled as well, taking her hand carefully. When stepping down, she tripped over and found herself in Vastra’s arms, her brown eyes gazing up into the blue eyes hidden behind the veil.  
“Glad you caught me, ma’am…” She muttered, quiet enough for only Vastra to hear.  
“Always, my dearest Jenny…”  
The ‘maid’s’ heart was beating a little faster and only when the lord harrumphed, they let go of each other and followed after him, both having a cheeky smile on their lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was so much fun! I didn't expect it to end up as a whole chapter, but describing the cab ride... Well, I got a bit carried away.  
> Next chapter the investigations will start! Promise! <3


	3. Sleeping Sylvia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paternoster Gang tries interrogating the first victim of the "sleeping curse".

„Alright… So, you tried keeping your wife awake? Were there… Any signs, something that happened before she fell asleep?”  
Vastra asked and pulled out a notepad to write down everything that could be useful.  
Jenny was standing next to her, carefully eying the big room. The walls were mostly covered in dark brown wood, you could almost mistake it for black, and above, golden adornments decorated the walls in beautiful patterns. All the furniture matched with the design of the walls, dark wood, and golden ornaments. Even the pattern of the curtains matched with the one on the walls.  
She was quite impressed. Having never really heard about Lord Ascot before, she realizes she indeed knew him. In London he was better known as the Golden Possessor of Paintings and, looking around the room now, Jenny knew why. All the walls were filled with beautiful and indubitable luxurious pieces of art from all around the globe.  
Begging for their help without introducing himself properly… Jenny raised an eyebrow and shook her head vaguely. He didn’t even tell them how much he would pay…  
“Yes, yes! I tried! But she wouldn’t stop complaining and then… She suddenly was asleep… I was just outside her room to get some more tea, I swear!”  
The Silurian nodded and wrote something down, glancing up at Lord Ascot once again.  
“Anything more you can tell us about? Was there a change in your surroundings?”  
“Hm… Nothing I can think of right now… I… I would let you speak to her but… Ever since this started a few weeks back… Well, in the beginning she just went to bed earlier… She seemed to… Not sleep well and when waking up, especially in the past few days, she looked so white in her face, almost like dead. Bags under her eyes and everything… Almost as if she hadn’t slept at all…”  
Vastra’s pen was scraping over paper, quickly noting everything Lord Ascot told her, now and then she nodded.  
“Can’t we speak to ‘er now?” Jenny now asked, receiving an sceptical glare of the Lord.  
“As I said, she is sleeping… So…”  
“We could wake ‘er up, couldn’t we?”  
“Wake who up?”  
Strax shouted from the hallway. He was sent to investigate any signs of supernatural actions with some scanners.  
“Madame, I have found out that one of the lights seemed to flicker at a different frequency just a while back. At 3:42pm.”  
Vastra’s hand slid inside a hidden pocket of her dress and she pulled out her fob watch.  
“That was just ten to fifteen minutes before we arrived here, wasn’t it, Jenny?”  
With a nod Jenny dragged a chair to one of the lamps, already wanting to step onto the chair, she noticed the Lords shocked face.  
“’m sorry… Imma take off me shoes then…” With a sigh she started untying her shoes and set them down next to her. Now just wearing white stockings, she stepped up again; the terrified expression didn’t seem to fade from Lord Ascot’s face. He wasn’t used to a woman, not to speak of a maid as she had to appear to him, investigating.  
“Ma’am, nothin’ up here… Everythin’ normal…”  
Jenny turned around and shrugged; she shook her head.  
“Whatever it was, didn’t leave anything to trace… Sorry…”  
Lord Ascot’s eyes still were big and round, staring at the maid on top of one of his expensive chairs.  
Vastra approached Jenny, holding her hand out for her love to take. The whimsically smile behind the veil didn’t go unnoticed and was returned by Jenny as she placed her hand in Vastra’s and stepped down.  
The already widened eyes of Randal Ascot only grew bigger when the Veiled Detective helped her maid off the chair, his mouth opened in disbelief. Refusing to believe what had just happened before his eyes, he asked Vastra to follow him into his wife’s bedroom.

********

There they stood now; all lined up at the bottom of the bed, the sleeping lady in front of them. Again, Jenny’s eyes trailed across the room, looking for any hints of intrusion or paranormal activity. Nothing abnormal, nothing she could sense at least. Glancing over at Vastra and Strax, she noticed that neither of them seemed to have any idea what caused the lady falling asleep either.  
“Did the lamps flicker ever before?”  
Vastra finally broke the silence and let her eyes rest at Randal’s face. As if he was pierced by the lizard’s blue eyes, he started fumbling his hands and wiggled his head.  
“Well… I think so… Yeah… Never really paid attention to it before…”  
“Fair enough. Can you wake her up now so we can interrogate her?”  
“She won’t like that… She’s always miserable right after waking up… I’d rather…”  
Vastra interrupted with a harsh tone that made Jenny jump a little.  
“Would you rather have her sleep forever!? Would you rather have us leave without having found out? Would you like us to waste our time coming here for nothing?”  
He backed away a little, seeming to shrink under Vastra’s intense glare.  
“O… Of course not…”  
“Good. We’ll wake her up, then…”  
“Can I, madame?” Strax excitedly asked, already pulling out a few grenades.  
Vastra quickly shoved them back into his pocket and shook her head, hissing quietly.  
“No, Strax. Not like that…”  
His shoulders dropped and he nodded.  
“Alright… What would you suggest?”  
“Lord Ascot, I’d rather have you leave us alone with your wife… If that’s alright with you?”  
“Uh… Of… Of course…”  
Without any further words he sneaked out, leaving the Paternosters alone with his wife.

“Jenny, if you would wake her up, please?”  
She nodded and sat down next to the bed, gently shaking the lady.  
“’ello? Lady Ascot? Good morning…”  
After just a little, Lady Sylvia opened her eyes a little and turned her head a little. When she saw Jenny, a stranger to her, sitting next to her bed, she jumped up, her eyes wide open.  
“Who are you??? What are you doing in my house?”  
Jenny immediately got back up and tried calming Sylvia down.  
“Don’t be scared… We’re here to help…”  
“What, you want to help? There’s nothing you can help with… Leave…”  
“Your husband called for us… You don’t have to fear nothin’ from us. We’re investigating…”  
Sylvia stared at her with big eyes, the bags under her eyes looked terrible, as if she hadn’t sleep for a long time. She tried getting away from Jenny as far as possible, soon having her back against the wall.  
“We don’t mean you no harm… Trust me…”  
Jenny’s voice was calm, it sounded friendly. One of her hands was held out for the lady to take and she nodded with a warm smile.  
“Why would he do that? There’s nothing wrong, I…”  
Vastra cut her off, probably tired of waiting.  
“Your husband told us you were sleeping more than usual and decided it was best to call us, the Paternoster Gang. You seem to feel miserable after waking up, he mentioned…”  
The woman’s pale face now turned to Vastra, her grey-green eyes watching the veiled figure carefully.  
“You’re the Veiled Detective…” She gasped and Vastra nodded.  
“Indeed, I am. Now, would you answer some questions for us?”  
Sylvia held her head and shook it slowly, yawning a little. Her eyes wandered back to her bed and the probably still warm sheets, inviting her to lay down again and close her eyes for just a few more hours…

“Sylvia?”  
Jenny quietly asked, concern showing in her voice. She stepped closer, reaching for Sylvia’s arm.  
“Leave me alone!” The woman suddenly yelled, slapping Jenny’s hand away.  
A hiss of Vastra, Jenny stumbled backwards, a puzzled look on her face.  
“Leave me! I want to… I just want to rest!”  
“Shall I obliterate her, Madame? I’d suggest firing laser guns at her and then interrogating her.”  
Jenny and Vastra turned to Strax, shaking their head in unison.  
“Oh… The other way round, of course… Interrogate and then obliterate! Which I will do with great delight!”  
He had been quiet the whole time, this interrogation seemed to bore him a little. Maybe there was something else to do for him.  
“Strax, would you be so kind as to check if there were any more supernatural actions in the closer area around the house? I would be most grateful if you could…”  
“Of course, Madame!”  
He yelled and trailed off, happily mumbling something of ‘boring human filth’ and ‘gladly exterminating any interventions’.

Vastra came closer to the bed Sylvia was now sitting on, her head tiredly resting on her own chest. Vastra’s gloved hands reached for the veil.  
“Ma’am, are you sure you-…”  
She stopped when she saw her wife nodding, quickly closing the door and the curtains, coming to stand next to the Silurian who was about to uncover her scaled face now.  
“Lady Ascot, look at me, please…”  
Vastra mumbled and waited for the green eyes to find hers; her hands took off the veil and exposed a pair of bright blue eyes sitting on a face in uncountable shades of green.  
Sylvia’s eyes widened, her already white face getting even paler, she tried backing away from the creature in front of her.  
“Sylvia… Look at my eyes… Focus… I will create a psychic link to you to see what you see and hear what you hear… Shhh… Focus on me…”  
Vastra’s head danced around a little, following the beautiful melody her soothing voice created while rolling her Rs, resting longer on her Ss.  
Jenny’s heart always pounded faster when Vastra used her hypnotic powers on someone else, wishing to hear Vastra talk to her like that as well, almost falling under her spell once again every time.  
Sylvia was still frozen in place, her hand clasping the bedsheets tight. Vastra’s appearance scared her.  
“G… Get out! Go back to hell or wherever you came from, monster! I will not tell this abomination anything! Get it away from me!”  
Jenny could feel something inside her flaming up, great anger. Her breath speeded up and she clenched her fists, ready to beat the hell out of this lady for cursing at her wife like that. One hand had already grabbed the collar of Sylvia’s nightgown, the other ready to land a punch on her nose. Jenny bit her lip to stop herself from cursing at Sylvia like she just did at Vastra, her eyes narrowed.  
A little growl close to Jenny’s ear made her relax a little, loosening her grip on Sylvia’s nightgown. Vastra took Jenny’s fist in her own hands, brought it down, and shook her head.  
“You’re better than this…”  
She whispered and gifted her wife a soft smile; it couldn’t hide the pain and disappointment in those blue eyes Jenny loved so much.  
Jenny now let go of Lady Ascot, placing her second hand in Vastra’s as well.  
“I’m sorry…”  
Vastra tilted her head a little, studying Jenny’s expression close.  
“What are you sorry for, my dear? This is merely your fault…”  
“But… How do we interrogate her now?”  
“I won’t speak a word with this… this monster!” Sylvia exclaimed and pointed at Vastra.  
Jenny’s hands tensed up again, only calmed down by Vastra’s soft grip.  
“Neither will I. Jenny, would you please lead the interrogation? I will wait outside…”  
She gave Jenny an apologizing look, let go of her hands and disappeared through the door.

Still gazing after her, Jenny sighed and eventually turned to face Sylvia, her eyes now cold and sharp.  
“Why do you spend your time with it? This… this creature!?” Sylvia was still frightened, not understanding how this ‘monster’ as she called it was in fact a very kind and loving woman.  
“None of your business. And she’s a She. Her name is Madame Vastra and she is the Veiled Detective. When did you start feeling tired?”  
“But… But you’re its maid! Isn’t-…”  
“HER!” Jenny burst out; her face reddened in anger. She realised she had grabbed Lady Ascot’s collar again, coming dangerously close. Immediately she let go of her and sat back down. She had to appear as a maid to the outside world, she remembered. And clutching someone’s neckline wasn’t very maid like, it occurred to her.  
“Madame Vastra isn’t a monster… It’s rather you, assuming she’d be one…” Jenny murmured.  
“Anyways, let’s get to it… I ask you again, when did you start feeling tired?”  
Sylvia took a few deep breaths in, let a few out and nodded slowly; She was composing herself. Her usual schedule didn’t include being threatened, especially not by someone’s maid. Still, she felt too exhausted to think about this closer.  
“Well… It started a few weeks ago… It was… such an enormous force, trying to get me to sleep! I had to give in, couldn’t resist the urge to rest, just for a bit. But…”  
She bit her lip and her gaze wandered to the windows; curtains still closed.  
“But?”  
Jenny asked, her voice sounded softer again, although you could clearly make out how much she despised talking to Sylvia now that she cussed at the Silurian like that. Vastra was clearly hurt by it, Jenny could see that in her eyes.  
“I couldn’t… I didn’t want to sleep, yet at the same time I desired nothing more.”  
“Did you… See anything in specific before you fell asleep?”  
“Nothing I could think of… Although…”  
Lady Ascot glanced at one of the lights and sighed.  
“Although?”  
Green eyes fearfully stared at Jenny.  
“The light. It… It changed colour!”  
One finger pointed at it, Jenny turned round to look. The lamp flickering a bit, nothing unusual; at least nothing she could make out. Though, didn’t Strax mention a different frequency?  
Again, Jenny got up and pulled a chair under the lamp; She heard a gasp from the lady.  
“Sorry, I will take me shoes off, don’ worry…”  
She grumbled annoyed and took them off once again, climbing up the chair to cheek the lamp.  
Nothing unusual, everything as always…  
“Nothin’…”  
“Ah…” Sylvia made; Jenny looked up from tying the shoelace of her right shoe, the left one still laying on the ground. Suddenly, the lamp over her head started flickering in sinister violet.  
“Sylvia? Sylvia!”  
Without getting into her second shoe, jumped, and rushed towards her.  
“Wot’s this sand coming out of your eye?”  
She stared up at her, but Sylvia already fell asleep again.

“Vastra, Strax!” She shouted and just seconds after they burst into the room.  
“Jenny! Are you alright?”  
Vastra exclaimed, pulling her close.  
“I am… Yes… But… Sylvia fell asleep… I couldn’t really get much information…”  
“Perhaps we should extract the information and roast her brain in the process!”  
Strax suggested.  
“Oh, I could not obtain any further evidence helpful for the case, sadly…”  
“It’s alright, Strax… This seems to be a rather unusual case… People falling asleep out of nothing, not even traces the attacker left behind…”  
“Besides light flickering at a different frequency, Madame!”  
Vastra sighed and stroked Jenny’s head a little; hearing her shout like that she was scared something might have happened to her. The brunette willingly buried her face in Vastra’s chest and sighed.  
“No more information than that then… The lamp in this room didn’t have any signs on it either…”  
Jenny pointed at the lamp, one of her shoes still laying on the ground. Vastra’s lips curled up into an amused smile.  
“Did you climb up a chair again, my love?”  
“Had to…”  
“Well then, come here…”  
The Silurian took Jenny’s hand and guided her to the chair she climbed up before.  
“Sit.”  
Jenny did as she was told, glancing up at Vastra’s face, well hidden behind the veil again. Her brown eyes went wide when Vastra got on her knees in front of her and started lacing her second shoe. Gentle touches on Jenny’s foot made her shiver. She could feel Vastra’s cool scales even through the fabric of the gloves.  
“Here we go… Now you’re a decent maid again…”  
Vastra grinned and looked up into Jenny’s flustered face.  
“No maid…”  
She huffed and crossed her arms.  
Vastra got back up, taking Jenny’s hands in hers.  
“Not to me, love…”  
With that she lifted her veil and leaned down; She placed her lips against Jenny’s forehead, which made her flush even more.  
“But… To the outside world…”  
Jenny nodded and finished the sentence along with her wife.  
“For appearance’s sake.”  
“I know… And… I’m sorry for nearly beating the lady earlier… She said you were-…”  
“Yes, love… But you know I am not…”  
Once more, Jenny nodded and leaned against Vastra.

“Madame, the earthling scum calling himself Lord Ascot asks for permission to enter!” Strax sounded from the doorway.  
Quickly Jenny got up and straightened her dress, looking down a little, her cheeks still blushing.  
“Let him come in, Strax.”  
Vastra pulled the veil back over her face and sighed, a little annoyed at the presence of the black fabric in front of her eyes.  
“Uhm… Uhm… Did… Could you gain any information that could help you lifting this… I dare say this curse from my wife?”  
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find out much…”  
Randal’s shoulders sunk down; he shook his head a little.  
“I did not say ‘nothing’, Lord Ascot. We might be able to track whatever did this down with some… special equipment in our possession.”  
“You… You would do that?”  
“Of course, it was you who hired us after all. We will send you the charge after this case is closed if that’s alright with you?”  
The tone in Vastra’s voice didn’t really tolerate any answer besides ‘yes’, and the lord, though being indignant about a woman talking to him like that, was intelligent enough to accept her offer.

“Of course…”  
He just muffed after a few seconds, nodding, and sitting down on the bed his wife was resting in.  
“We are planning on getting back home, girl. Guide us to the cab.”  
Strax commanded and stood tall in front of Lord Ascot.  
“Strax…” Vastra whispered and mouthed ‘He’s a man!’  
“Oh! My mistake… Man, take us outside!”  
His eyes glanced over at Jenny and Vastra, them both mouthing ‘Please’.  
“Please, man.”  
A proud smile was plastered on the Sontaran’s face, the Silurian and her wife just nodded with a shy smile.  
“Yes, yes… Of course… Follow me, Miss…”  
“It’s Madame.” Jenny corrected him; her voice nearly as assertive as Vastra’s was before.  
Lord Ascot shrugged and got up, quickly moving towards the door.  
“Oh… Well then, follow me, Madame…”  
He led them through the corridor and into the yard where their cab was standing.  
“Thank you so much for visiting, Madame… I hope this case will be solved quickly…”  
“I hope so, too, Lord Ascot. As soon as we find out more, we will send you a message. Strax, please drive us home…”

Vastra turned and held her hand out for Jenny to take. Jenny was blushing the slightest bit when placing her hand in Vastra’s. She got inside the carriage. Then, Vastra followed and closed the door and the curtains. Hastily she took off her gloves and her veil. She knocked against the cab door.  
“Strax, let’s head home!”  
“Yes, Madame!”  
Jenny leaned against the window, gazing out through a tiny gap.  
“So much for our little holiday…” She sighed and shook her head.  
“Should’ve known we’d never really have a holiday, should I?”  
Vastra watched the human close, her blue eyes gazing over Jenny’s face.  
“Come, sit with me, dear…”  
She tapped her left hand on the space seat next to her and smiled at Jenny teasingly, already reaching out for her. With a sweet smile Jenny got up and sat down next to her, leaning against her muscular shoulder.  
“Maybe… We can enjoy ourselves in other kinds of pleasure?”  
Vastra suggested, her hand sliding to the back of Jenny’s dress, trying to fiddle the buttons open, the grin on her face growing even wider.  
“Lusty lizard… Can’t even wait till we’re back home, eh?”  
Jenny giggled and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“We didn’t exactly gain much information, did we?” She sighed and interlocked her fingers with Vastra’s.  
The lizard sighed.  
“No, my dear… Nothing besides the lamps flickering…”  
“Nd the sand…”  
“Sand?”  
“When Sylvia fell asleep, some sand was trickling out of her eye…”  
Vastra turned a bit and looked Jenny in the face, eying her with concern.  
“What are you talking about, love? Was there something I didn’t notice?”  
“Well, I dunno… Just… When I was tying me shoe, the light started actin’ all strange and when I reached Sylvia, there was this sand coming out and… And then she fell asleep…”  
Vastra’s hands reached up to cup Jenny’s face and her eyes stared at Jenny intensely. Her thumbs were tenderly caressing her warm cheeks and the Silurian’s lips curled into a mild smile.  
“Sand, you say. How much?”  
“Couldn’t really make it out… But if I were to guess I’d say about… one or two hands full?”  
“That much sand and I didn’t notice? Can’t be… Are you sure?”  
“Of course I am! I saw it with me own eyes!”  
Jenny protested but then fell quiet.  
“’m sorry… Didn’t mean to shout at you…”  
“It’s alright, love… This case is… Rather unusual. Hardly any clues, a lady falling asleep… You know what we’re going to do now…”  
Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed, nodding thoughtfully.  
“Search the papers for similar incidents…”  
“Exactly. Perhaps there are some clues? We’ll see… But for now…”

Vastra grinned again and wrapped her arms around Jenny’s waist, drawing her closer. She felt the young woman snuggle into her chest and started caressing her head once again. Holding her like that, so protective, the Silurian could feel her wife’s breath calming down, her eyes closing.  
“Rest, my love…” Vastra mumbled as her head sunk down on Jenny’s and her eyelids slowly closed as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had quite a lot of time on my way to university and back home... Like... Three or four hours a day.  
> Soooo... Instead of uploading it in two days (as I first planned), here it is! I hope you like it!


	4. Back at Paternoster Row

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote most of this in train again. The next two weeks will be a bit stressful, I think. But I hope I find some time to write (comfort work, lol XD)  
> Also, I might have got carried away while writing this...  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter!

„Madame, we’ve arrived at Paternoster Row 13. Wake up and leave the cab immediately.”  
Strax’ voice woke the two women who now sat upright, blinking still a bit sleepy. Jenny was the first to move; Vastra grumbled and pulled her close again.

“Warm…”  
She huffed and placed her head against Jenny’s chest.  
“Let’s get you inside then… There is fire, that’ll warm you up even better…”  
Jenny let out a small chuckle when Vastra stubbornly shook her head, clinging onto Jenny even harder.  
Slowly she leaned down, placing soft kisses on Vastra’s forehead; the Silurian looked up with a playful smile.  
“More.”  
She demanded and pulled Jenny down at her collar to kiss her. With a sigh, Jenny gave in and pressed her lips against Vastra’s for a few seconds, taking her hands afterwards.

“Your hands are cold…”  
“Always are…”  
“Come, let’s warm you up…”  
“More kisses?”  
“If you’re good.”  
Jenny teased and opened the cab door, holding her hand out for Vastra to take. They went inside; Strax left with the horses, already happy about his mission to obliterate the horse that annoyed him on their little journey.

********

“Now, Mr Horse… Hehehe…” Strax started laughing. He had taken care of the cab, the other horse, and now he was standing in front of ‘Mr Horse’ who didn’t listen to his distinctive orders on their journey.  
The horse wasn’t really bothered by a five-foot-high Sontaran, it just continued sipping a bit of water out of a through.  
“Look me in the eye, hairy earthly filth!”  
Strax demanded and stamped his foot a few times. Mr Horse didn’t care about his little tantrum at all and just continued as if he couldn’t hear the Sontaran’s shouting.  
“Oh, you’re a stubborn one, horse… But… As I learned to be a ‘gentleman’ under Madame Vastra, I shall let you decide which of my weapons I will use to destroy you.”

He pulled out a few different weapons and showed them to the horse one by one.  
“This is a laser gun. Simple but very effective.”  
Strax placed the laser gun down and picked up the next, slightly bigger piece of weaponry.  
“One of my absolute favourites. Never heard any complains about it. Or perhaps I have. Don’t remember. Always atomized them… Anyways, this is my atomizer! Beautiful! It cancels out the electromagnetic forces between the atoms of your body… You will be ripped out of existence with it… If you got any ideas for naming it, tell me before I eliminate you!”  
Just a neigh came from the horse that went over to some left-over hay now. Strax murmured some curse words at it and picked up his third and last weapon he had with him.

“The last one is my flame thrower. This will burn you alive and perhaps leave a nice dinner for me. It does what the name says. Throw flames. SO! Horse! Which do you choose?”  
He waited for the horse to choose one, it however wasn’t interested at all, or didn’t understand the Sontaran’s loud shouting; or both.  
After a few more minutes, Strax got tired of waiting and placed his three options around him, in a triangle. Then he stepped in the middle of them, closed his eyes and turned around a few times. Eyes still shut he stumbled in one direction and nearly fell over one of his warheads.  
“AH!”  
He exclaimed as he opened his eyes and picked up the gun.  
“The laser gun it is! Prepare for obliteration by the bravest of Sontaran Butlers! SONTAR-HA!”

********

“Fire lit… What’re we gonna do now, ma’am?”  
Jenny brushed a bit of ash off her dress and grabbed a few blankets. Vastra was still standing at the window, gazing out into the distance, her eyes fixed on smoking chimneys of a factory.  
“What are these apes releasing there…” She mumbled quietly; her expression sorrowful. She remembered the wonderful world she grew up in. Big trees everywhere on the surface, clean air, majestic underground cities… And now, her cities were still in hibernation, she was the only Silurian on Earth right now. When the others would eventually wake, Vastra would be long gone.  
A melancholic smile formed on her lips when she thought about back then. Her mother was long gone, died back then while hunting.  
Her sisters all brutally slaughtered by apes; a low growl made Jenny come closer. Carefully, slowly. She could tell what Vastra was thinking about; roughly at least. Something about her past upset her; something to do with apes.

When she reached out to comfort Vastra, a hiss made her back away. The Silurian’s blue eyes glowered dangerously when she turned to face Jenny. Hatred burning in her eyes, hatred for apekind.  
Then, all of the sudden, her expression softened, her eyes became warm and loving again, her arms pulled Jenny into a tender embrace.  
She buried her nose in Jenny’s hair (as far as it was possible; Jenny’s hair still being in a bun) and hummed in contentment, quietly mumbling an excuse.  
Jenny wrapped her arms around Vastra and caressed her back lovingly, stroking up and down her spine. All she could do was just comfort her wife in silence, giving her some time to just… calm down again. Questions about her past pained Vastra, just as much as Jenny was haunted by her own.

Of course, they knew about each other’s past, but what use was living in the past when there was a future of love and being together to embrace?  
“Cold…”  
Vastra whispered but didn’t even think about letting go of her warm wife, even if there was a fire lit nearby.  
“Come to the fire, t’s warm…”  
“But you’re hotter…”  
Jenny blushed, burying her face in Vastra’s chest; she decided to not fall for Vastra’s (more or less) smooth teasing this time.  
“Hush now… Sit by the fire, I will get the newspapers.”  
She tried freeing herself from Vastra’s hug; the Silurian was quite determined to not let her source of heat go now.  
“Stay.”  
Vastra demanded and placed her hand at the younger woman’s chin to bring it up to face her, glancing down on her lips longingly. She was waiting. Waiting for Jenny to kiss her.  
Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed, stretching to reach her wife’s lips, connecting them with hers. Jenny’s hands wandered up to cross in Vastra’s neck now, the lizard’s hands resting at Jenny’s waist.

After a few seconds Jenny let go of Vastra, noticing how her wife glimpsed down yearningly at her lips once again before Jenny freed herself from the embrace. The lizard was growling a little, reaching out for Jenny once more.  
“’m just gone for a few minutes… Don’ worry, you grumpy lizard…” Jenny giggled and brushed over Vastra’s hand once again, her lips curled into a sweet smile.

Vastra sighed when Jenny left the room, feeling much colder all of the sudden. She hurried to sit down by the fire and wrapped herself in a few blankets hastily.  
Staring into the flames her expression became sad again. A chill crept into her bones and made her shiver.  
She thought about what could have been. About how her life would have been if she hadn’t met the doctor; if she hadn’t found Jenny and if she hadn’t fallen in love with her. Would she be dead now? Or would she go on killing apes? If she ever met Jenny in a different reality, would she have devoured her like any other of her victims?  
Her heart sunk at that thought; she shook her head to rid her mind of those terrible pictures of Jenny being killed or even harmed in any way. In her mind pictures of Jenny laying slaughtered in front of her, Jenny’s blood dripping from her claws. A growl of pain came from the Silurian as she raised her head and looked around the room, Jenny wasn’t here. The feeling of unease only grew stronger now, making Vastra get up.

“Jenny?”  
She asked into the empty room, her voice trembling a little. Her eyes trailed over every piece of furniture quickly while she was waiting for a response. Silence.  
“Jenny??”  
Vastra was scared, her eyes opened wide and her breath speeded up a little. Her heart pounded faster. Jenny not being here now didn’t exactly help the pictures in Vastra’s mind fade; quite the opposite was the case. A fear of having lost Jenny, of having killed her overcame the lizard. The blankets fell to the ground as Vastra rushed into the hallway, turning her head in panic, looking for Jenny.  
“Jenny!?”  
She yelled, caught in an illusion her fear had created. The fear of losing Jenny, of not finding her.  
Without any second thoughts she got the front door open and stepped out into the cold, immediately feeling the chill of night creeping through the fabric of her dress. Vastra’s hands were shaking from both fear and the cold as her eyes searched for any signs of her wife, her face turning paler and paler every second.

“Ma’am!?”  
Jenny shouted when she came back from Vastra’s exotic garden with a bunch of newspapers. Carelessly she threw them aside and pulled the shaking Silurian into her arms, gently stroking her back. Jenny could feel her wife’s racing heartbeat, wondering what could’ve caused this.  
“Don’ scare me like this again… Stupid lizard…”  
Vastra looked down at Jenny’s worried face, sighing in relief. She kissed Jenny’s forehead and held her close, practically clung to her.  
“Jenny… Jenny… You’re here… You’re here…”  
She whispered; her voice sounded like she was crying of joy. Jenny gave her a puzzled look but just nodded.  
“Of course I am… Where should I go? What… What was going on? Are you alright, darling?”  
The pallid scales in Vastra’s face slowly gained colour again, some of them immediately switching to a dark green. The Silurian just held her close, breathing in Jenny’s scent, calming down her racing heart.

Jenny was the first to break the embrace, crouching down to pick up the newspapers. A still shaking hand reached for Jenny’s, grabbed it, and held it firmly. The woman turned around, looking even more worried.  
“Dear, are you… sure you’re alright?”  
She asked as her brown eyes fixed Vastra’s, which were still widened in fear.  
A soft growl was the answer; Jenny sighed and got up, the newspapers now in her hand.  
They went back into the living room and sat down in front of the fire. In silence she wrapped her wife and herself in a blanket and held her close.  
“You know you c’n talk to me…”  
Jenny mumbled when holding Vastra close, feeling the Silurian snuggle into her chest again. Instead of answering Vastra tried getting Jenny’s waistcoat open.  
“Oi!”  
Jenny snapped and glowered down at her.  
“Don’ be stupid… First, we got work to do… Nd sec’nd…”  
She sighed before continuing and gently cupped Vastra’s face in her hands, teasingly stroking over her scales.  
“Sec’nd… You c’n talk to me… You… Were scared. And you were shoutin’ like crazy… What happen’d?”  
The lizard averted her eyes, avoiding Jenny’s gaze. She couldn’t tell her she imagined how her life could have been without meeting the doctor and Jenny. That she was pained by images of her wife being slaughtered by her own claws.  
She gulped and stumbled a reply.  
“N… Nothing…”  
“Oh, don’t gimme that ‘nothin’’! I know full well it’s never nothin’! Used it often enough meself… Now, tell me…”  
Vastra flinched and tried backing away. She didn’t want to scare Jenny in any way, what if she left her after learning what Vastra was thinking about?  
“Tell me… Please… I… I jus’ wanna ‘elp… I’m beggin’ you, Vastra…”  
The woman quietly mumbled, tearing up a little. Jenny feared for what might hold the power to leave her strong warrior wife shaking in front of the door of Paternoster Row. Before a tear made its way down her cheek, Vastra brought her cold hands up to caress Jenny’s face.  
“Don’t shed tears, my love… It was just… Thoughts of what could have been… They came over me and…”  
She went quiet and gently placed her lips on Jenny’s, holding her close. When she backed away, her gaze locked with Jenny’s. The flickering fire reflected in Jenny’s brown eyes; it made the Silurian chuckle a little as it reminded her of the fire burning inside of Jenny. But her laugh faded, and she went quiet again, caressing Jenny’s cheek softly.  
“I just wouldn’t want to live a life without you, my dear…”  
“Neither do I, my darling…”  
Vastra placed her head at Jenny’s chest again, closing her eyes; she listened to Jenny’s heartbeat which was a bit faster than usual but she didn’t think too much of it and just absorbed all the heat she could get from Jenny.

“Alas…”  
Jenny started and forced Vastra to look her in the eye again. The Silurian hissed in protest but faced her wife this time. Her hand started shaking a little when the brown eyes narrowed and came closer, trying to make out what was haunting Vastra.  
“What could’ve left you outside at night? You’re me brave Silurian warrior aft’r all, hm?”  
Vastra huffed and backed away from Jenny, wrapping herself in a few blankets. She was feeling colder now that Jenny wasn’t right next to her, nevertheless she didn’t want Jenny to be terrified.  
“Vastra…”  
A soft voice mumbled and a hand belonging to the owner of the soft voice reached out for her. Vastra glowered at it and sighed; she crawled back to her wife and placed her head in her lap, not letting go of her cocoon of blankets.  
Jenny’s fingers traced Vastra’s scales in silence, looking down at her wife in concern. The Silurian seemed to enjoy this; she purred in satisfaction and closed her eyes.

“I… I thought about back then…”  
“The dawn of time.”  
Jenny stated quietly and nodded. She respected that Vastra didn’t want to talk about this time; it hurt her as much as it hurt Jenny to think of her own past.  
“And what… What could have been if… I never met the doctor… If I kept kil-… If I had continued that way… What… would have happened to you… If… If we had met under different circumstances… I…”  
Vastra avoided Jenny’s eyes again, facing the flames instead. A sound that could be interpreted as sobbing came from the Silurian, and even though Jenny felt her own heart sink to the bottom of her chest at Vastra’s words, she pushed it aside and placed her hand on the scaled cheek in her lap.  
“We ‘aven’t… Ev’rythin’ is fine… We’re together… Hm? I will never leave you, as long as I’m alive! I promise… Yeah?”  
Gently she placed her lips at Vastra’s forehead and smiled. Slowly Vastra’s eyes opened and searched Jenny’s, her lips curled into a smile.  
“Hmhm… Yes, love…”  
Vastra nodded and sat up again, leaning against Jenny now.  
“We should get to work, don’t you think, my dearest Jenny?”  
“We really should… Alright… Let’s get this over with…”  
She took one of the newspapers and opened it. Together they began looking at the articles, searching for incidents of people falling asleep out of nothing. Jenny decided to take cases related to sand in consideration as well, but there wasn’t anything mentioning sand.

A few hours later, seven articles were marked with a red circle, the same amount of addresses written down on a sheet; Jenny and Vastra decided it was enough work for today, they’d start visiting and interrogating the families the day after.  
Both drowsy already, they headed up to their bedroom and changed into their nightgowns. Together they went to bed, Vastra cuddled into Jenny’s arms to be kept warm at night and be reminded that Jenny was right here, her terror from earlier was nothing more than a distant memory at the moment. They both drifted off to sleep just to find each other in their dreams again.


	5. Poor father sleeping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paternosters are visiting the victims of this strange "falling asleep".

„Jenny, the address list, please…”  
“Here, ma’am…”  
Jenny handed her a small notebook and stood up straight next to Vastra in a maid-like manner. She looked at the family in front of her and frowned.  
All of them in ragged clothes, many different pieces of fabric sewed together. In the mother’s arms rested a little bundle, her youngest child. Thinking about the winter coming soon, Jenny wondered if he would make it. She knew well enough that the cold could be the death of a small child, she had lost one of her siblings in a rough winter as well.  
In this family, the father had started falling asleep about ten days back, shortly after his oldest daughter followed. As the mother had to look after her four younger children, only her oldest son, he was twelve at the moment, could bring home a little bit of money.  
Jenny pitied them. There was nothing she wanted more than to give them a bit of money, nonetheless from her own experience she knew that most poor families didn’t want to owe the money to the upper class.  
Often there were stories of rich gentlemen lending not so affluent classes money just to rob them even their last penny months after. It was a dirty business… And as much as Jenny knew she wouldn’t be like those people; she was aware that the family wouldn’t take the money in fear of having to pay back Madame Vastra.  
A soft sigh escaped her and led to six pairs of eyes fixing her. Jenny could feel blood rush to her cheeks.

“’m sorry… Din’t mean to intrupt…”  
She mumbled and looked down, noticing Vastra’s sly grin behind the veil.  
“If you have any further information or need our help, don’t be shy to visit. Paternoster Row 13.”  
“Thank you… Thank you so much, Madame Vastra…”  
“No need to thank me yet… We will figure out what exactly it is your husband is suffering from…”  
“Mommy, will they come visit again? We didn’t have such a wonderful meal in ages…”  
One of the daughters said, the mother bit her lip and looked away.

Jenny knew what this meant. They gathered their best food and offered it to Vastra and Jenny. Neither her nor the lizard ate any of it; Vastra because she didn’t like human food and Jenny because she knew what the family was doing.

“We will visit again, promise, eh?”  
Jenny crouched down to face the children and gave them a cheery smile. Seeing the children’s faces lit up warmed Jenny’s heart and Vastra couldn’t deny liking the way Jenny treated the children.  
“And then… Perhaps…”  
She leaned closer to whisper something in the youngest child’s ear.  
“Then I will bring you some sweets an’ stuff… But don’ tell yer mom or the missus…”  
When the children started giggling and nodded in unison, Jenny’s heart jumped a little. Those children reminded her a lot of her own childhood, at home and on the streets.  
“We won’t tell, promise!”

One of the kids shouted and got a wink of Jenny for it. She had a playful smile on her lips as she patted the little girl’s head. She tried winking back at Jenny which made the maid chuckle a little.  
“Look, you keep one eye open and then… close the other one…”  
Again, Jenny winked at her and the girl’s eyes became round when she gave the “maid” a toothy grin. This time the attempt of winking was a bit more successful and Jenny applauded her a little.

“Jenny?”  
Vastra’s voice suddenly sounded in her ears and she got back up, brushing off her skirt with reddened cheeks.  
“Yes? Uh… Ma’am?”  
She quickly added as the mother tilted her head to the side with a puzzled look.  
“I think we got all the information we need for now… We will inform you upon any progress in this case.”  
“Thanks for coming to listen, Madame Vastra… The police didn’t… So we went and hoped someone would find it in the newspapers…”  
“And we did.”  
Vastra smiled and glanced at Jenny who immediately blushed at the gaze and lowered her head. An amused smile curled on Vastra’s lips as she nodded.  
“We’re off then. Jenny, come.”  
Already turning around she waved at Jenny to follow her and took her hand to help her in the carriage. Gratefully Jenny let Vastra help her and pulled her into the cab after her.

After they closed the door, Jenny waved at the children and received a chuckle of Vastra for it.  
“Wot?”  
Jenny snapped and glared at the figure still hidden beneath the veil.  
Vastra closed the curtains and took off her veil, an amused smile on her lips as she watched her wife narrowing her eyes even more. Acting as if she hadn’t noticed it, Vastra knocked loudly and yelled.  
“Strax, we’re off! To the next one, please!”  
In return she received a “Yes, madame!” and the cab started moving.  
“Stop teasin’ and tell me!”  
She demanded, the stern look in her face not fading. Vastra laughed once more and took off her gloves as well.

“It’s just fun watching ape children play… Whispering secrets in each other’s ears, thinking the ‘missus’ wouldn’t notice…”  
Vastra’s attempt of mimicking Jenny’s accent was met with another glare, deadlier this time. Still, she couldn’t help but tease her a little more.  
“Winking at each other, giggling… Oh, they do look rather delicious doing that… Makes me want to just…”  
She grabbed Jenny’s arm and pulled her close, making the young woman gasp in awe. Holding Jenny firmly she leaned down to her neck and gently bit her, then placed soft kisses on Jenny’s collar. The young woman let out a quiet, definitely unwanted moan and tried backing away.  
“Oi! Stupid lizard!”

Jenny glowered at her and freed herself, taking a seat at the other side of the carriage.  
“Stupid reptile…”  
She mumbled and pouted a little, staring at the curtains shielding her view of the streets.  
Vastra mustered her and tilted her head to one side. After a long pause she mumbled.

“You’re angry.”  
“No, I’m not.”  
“What is it then?”  
“Nothin’!”

With a sigh Vastra leaned back. She knew exactly that it wasn’t ‘nothing’ as Jenny stated… Gently she placed her hand on top of Jenny’s; the young woman raised an eyebrow but didn’t turn to face her.  
“What did I do wrong?”  
“Nothin’…”  
“Tell me…”  
It only now occurred to Vastra that she might’ve said something offensive to her wife and studied her face closer, looking for any hints at the emotions Jenny was feeling now.

“’m not a child.”  
Jenny grumbled and finally looked at the Silurian, or more: glanced at her from the corner of her eye.  
Vastra shrugged and switched seats so she’d be closer to Jenny, carefully leaning closer.  
“I am sorry…”  
“What for?”  
Jenny’s head turned in surprise.

“You din’t do ‘nythin’ wrong… Yer just a bloddy Silurian who don’t understand humans at all…”  
“Then tell me.”  
“Tell yer wot?”  
“What I didn’t understand… You were having fun with the children. It looked adorable; you playing with even smaller ap-… humans… And you were whispering and winking.”  
Jenny huffed and turned away again, wrapping her arms around her body. It was a quite chilly day, even in the cab it wasn’t exactly warm.  
Vastra wanted nothing more than to hold Jenny close and warm herself up, but first she had to sort this out.  
“You aren’t a child, I apologize…”  
She said and waited for a response; eyes nervously fixed on Jenny.  
“’t’s okay… I know you din’t mean it like that…”  
Vastra smiled a little and placed her hand on Jenny’s cheek.  
“I was being insensitive again… I shouldn’t say things like that, I should think about you first… Or else… I might lose you…”  
“Oh, don’ be silly now… I won’t leave yer jus’ because yer being insensitive… I knew that full well when I married you! Now don’ be stupid and come ‘ere…”  
Jenny pulled Vastra close and gently placed her lips on the lizard’s. Her hands ran down Vastra’s spine as her lips opened a little to let her wife’s tongue in. After a few more seconds, Jenny broke the kiss and looked into Vastra’s slowly opening eyes.  
“Don’ you ever try toppin’ me like that again…”  
A mischievous smile curled up Vastra’s lips as she sat in Jenny’s lap and looked down at her, placing her arms left and right of Jenny’s shoulders. Slowly she leaned down to Jenny’s ear.  
“My dearest Jenny… We both know you love it…”  
Jenny’s heart started beating faster and, to Vastra’s amusement, her cheeks immediately changed colour to a dark red.  
“What is it, love? You’re all flus-…”  
Before Vastra could finish, Jenny passionately shut her up, placing her lips on Vastra’s for a long and deep kiss.

********

“I think we’ve arrived, eh?”  
Jenny mumbled as she sat up again. Time flew by as they were cuddling the whole time, discussing all their evidence.  
It wasn’t much, still only the unknown change in the frequency of the lights. Jenny shortly speculated that this ‘sleeping curse’ was passed on in families, but as this only happened once and there was no known connection between Sylvia Ascot, Mary Elizabeth – the second victim they had paid a visit – and the family they were interrogating just hours back, they scraped this theory.  
“Yes, this should be the manor of Miss Blanchard and her husband… Newspapers spoke of ‘an illness affecting the great mind of Mister Sirius Blanchard’… We’ll see if he is half as bright as he claims to be…”

Vastra mumbled and raised her chin into the air, arrogancy sounding in her voice. The Silurian never quite knew what to do with human men – monkeys, as she liked to call them. As if apes themselves weren’t prideful enough, there were differences between female and male apes. The male ones thought of themselves as the fairest and wisest, as superior to all other beings, oppressing their wives and children. Not only did upper class apes do that, even in poor families men claimed to be worthier than women.  
A growl escaped Vastra as she thought about what Jenny had told her about her own family.

“Still not good with men, eh?”  
“Neither are you…”  
“Yer right, ma’am… Still, gotta talk to ‘em to investigate, right?”  
“Yes… Come on, let’s get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to have more story in it, but I kinda got carried away again. It's always those damn cab rides XD Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Miss Blanchard's Husband

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wife of one of the victims is interrogated. While Strax is scanning for any traces of supernatural beings that could've caused this, Vastra and Jenny are having a bit of fun before actually looking for hints.

When the cab stopped, Jenny swung the door open and stepped out, holding her hand out for Vastra to take. Vastra, wearing veil and gloves, gladly accepted, and got out as well. Together with Strax they walked up to the door.  
“May I knock, Madame?”  
Strax asked and already lifted his hand to knock.  
“Yes, Strax. Please do…”  
The Sontaran knocked, unexpectedly gentle, and a door was opened inside the house. Shortly after, the door was opened and a woman of about 30 years appeared and waved them in.  
In the big light dining room she showed Madame Vastra a chair to take a seat and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Not even looking at Jenny and Strax even once, she started talking.  
“Thank you so much for coming, Madame Vastra. I have heard so much about you lately… The Great Veiled Detective… Unbelievable…”  
“And yet it is true. I am sitting right in front of you. But… Of course, I wouldn’t have succeeded in so many cases if it weren’t for the help of my… acquaintances here… Jenny and Strax.”  
Vastra pointed at Jenny and Strax and gave them a warm smile. Miss Blanchard didn’t seem to see it through the veil, her eyes wandered in the direction Vastra’s finger pointed and widened a bit.  
“Your maid, I take it? And your butler?”  
Jenny bit her lip. Being introduced as Vastra’s maid still stung a little in her heart, but she knew she had to maintain this image.  
Vastra let out a long sigh and nodded slowly. It seemed to annoy her just as much to hear Jenny being referred to as her maid, but what could she do? They’d talked about it often, always concluding it had to be.

“Let us come back to the matter published in the newspapers… Your husband seems to have fallen asleep without waking up afterwards?”  
“Well, he does get up-… Or he did. At first, he was just falling asleep in, let’s say, unusual places. I didn’t think too much of it. As a businessman, you see, he has work to do, late at night as well, on occasions.”  
Jenny, standing in the background, quickly pulled out a notebook and started scribbling down what the woman just said. Vastra glanced at her, waiting for her to finish, and then turned to the woman in front of her. She nodded and gestured her to continue. Miss Blanchard’s eyes, however, were fixed on Jenny, disbelief written all over her face.  
“Is anything wrong, Miss Blanchard?”  
Vastra asked, tilting her head a little. The woman gulped, faked a smile, and pointed at Jenny.  
“I… I was just thinking, the Great Detective might like to write down notes on her own and not rely on a servant’s limited view on things…”  
The Silurian’s eyes narrowed under the cover of the veil and she got up, walking over to Jenny. Without saying anything, she guided her to the chair and let her sit down, leaning on the chair behind her. Jenny couldn’t help but smile at Vastra’s action, blushing a little as well. Carefully she now placed her notebook on the table to write properly.  
“This shall help your notes be more legible, de…”  
Vastra’s voice died and instead she just placed her hand on Jenny’s shoulder. She could feel her wife shudder at the touch, her smile growing slightly bigger.  
“But-…”  
“But what? That way Jenny will be able to write in a way I will be able to read… Do you have a problem with my methods?”  
“No, I just-“  
“Good. Please continue. Tell us everything that happened.”

With one last glare at Jenny whose lips were curled in a quite satisfied smile when she got comfortable in the chair, she continued.  
“When he woke up, he always was angry and claimed to be tired, even after hours and hours of sleep! I didn’t know what to do. After a few days he didn’t wake up on his own… I had to wake him and then…”  
She bit her lip and looked away, shaking her head. One of her hands wandered up to her left arm and rubbed it slightly. Vastra watched her closely and as soon as Jenny had finished writing down, she asked.  
“Did he hurt you?”  
“What?”  
Miss Blanchard’s eyes went wide, and she let her hand sink into her lap again.  
“Your husband. Did he hurt you?”  
Vastra asked again, her hands tensing a little. It wasn’t unusual, Jenny had told her, that husbands hit their wives if they didn’t do as they were told. Jenny, of course, noticed the gloved hand grasping her dress tighter and looked up at Vastra, shaking her head a little. She knew how much her wife despised this sort of behaviour, she herself wished for a better world in which everyone was considered an equal, no matter their gender, sexuality, skin colour or anything else.

“I apologize. Is there anything else you can tell us? Did something… unnatural occur when he was asleep? When exactly did it start? Anything else?”  
She visibly relaxed back into her chair and took a short break to think. Then she nodded.  
“It started exactly nine days back. The first time, nothing really happened… He just… He was rubbing his eyes a lot and complained about sand. It didn’t and still doesn’t make any sense to me.”  
“Sand? What exactly? How much?”

Jenny sat up straight, her breath speeded up a little. Vastra raised an eye ridge and looked at Jenny, then at Miss Blanchard and back again. Something about this sand bugged her wife a lot.  
Miss Blanchard’s jaw dropped, and she looked up at Vastra. For her, it was shocking that a maid asked her such questions. But the lizard just nodded and gestured her to answer Jenny’s questions.

“Well, I don’t know… I couldn’t really see. I told him there was nothing there, but he was just staring down at his hands, frozen almost. And then he just… Fell asleep. But what’s really weird…”  
She looked around quickly and moved a little closer, lowering her voice.  
“The lights were being stupid. They flickered violet sometimes. And then he was asleep… It’s been two days since he was last awake.”  
With a sigh she sunk back.

“It’s getting harder every time… Waking him up… It’s almost like… Some sort of spell has been placed on him…”  
“’m sorry to 'ear… But Miss Blanchard… If there’s anythin’ we can do to 'elp yer, you can tell us… Right, ma’am?”  
Jenny looked up at Vastra, searching for her blue eyes. As soon as she found them, she smiled a little. Vastra slowly nodded, her hand still resting on Jenny’s shoulder. “Yes, that’s right. If I may concern you with a few more questions about your husband… Or well, the whole situation revolving around him. You did mention the lights being weird… Did they change colour? To an ominous violet, by any chance?”  
Miss Blanchard’s eyes widened in shock as she nodded slowly.  
“Yes… Yes! It switched to violet…”  
Vastra and Jenny looked at each other and nodded.  
“Could we take a look at your husband, by any chance?”  
“You… You could but… But don’t wake him up or else he might-… Nevermind…”  
“We’ll be careful, don’ worry…”  
Jenny got up with a faint smile on her lips. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that her husband wasn’t exactly treating her well. The Silurian nodded in agreement.  
“If you could show us the way to his room, Miss Blanchard…”  
“Oh, yes. Of course!”  
“Strax, we’ll take a look at the husband… Would you please check the lights for traces of… You know…?”  
“Of course, Madame!”  
He huffed and pulled out a scanner and hurdled to one of the lights to check. He was bored by the endless interrogations, but they couldn’t just leave him at home. First, they needed someone to drive the cab, Vastra didn’t want to do it; she’d have to wear her veil the whole time. And Jenny had no idea how to drive a cab. Second, and perhaps more the reason they took him with them, Strax would get bored alone in Paternoster Row and could get the idea of blowing something up. But he also was a great ally for Vastra and Jenny as they could easily split up without Vastra constantly worrying about what could happen to Jenny alone (or an attacker mistaking Jenny for a simple maid), or the other way round.

“Follow me through here… I apologize for it being a little dusty… But after-… After my husband fell asleep and… Behaved differently, our maid quit and…”  
She fell quiet again and led them to a room in silence. There on the bed lay Daniel Blanchard, seemingly just sleeping.  
“Would you mind leaving us alone with him? We will make sure not to hurt him…”  
“It’s not him I’m worried about… I… I’d rather stay… To make sure he doesn’t cause you any harm…”  
Vastra chuckled a little and shook her head.  
“Miss Blanchard, I assure you, both, Jenny and I, are both perfectly capable of defending ourselves. No need to worry about us…”  
With a hesitant nod Miss Blanchard left and quietly closed the door behind her.

“Let’s see then… t’s all the same… Light changin’ colour and people fallin’ asleep… Why can’t there be any real clues?”  
“But Jenny, isn’t that exactly what is so exciting about it? The mystery?”  
“I’d rather just 'ave some weeks off… 'ave you for meself…”  
Jenny sighed and when Vastra raised an eye ridge, she blushed.  
“Have me for yourself? But dear, don’t you have my attention all day?”  
“Not when I’m bein’ yer maid… I wanna be yer wife, not yer maid…”  
Vastra came closer and took off one of her gloves, placing her hand at Jenny’s cheek.  
“You are… You are my wife… And you always will be… We both know that…”  
With a smile she leaned down and placed her lips on Jenny’s, feeling the young woman wanting more. Jenny’s hands wandered up Vastra’s back as she held her close and kissed back passionately.

“Jenny…”  
Vastra whispered between two kisses, gently bushing some hair back behind Jenny’s ear. To her surprise the young woman didn’t stop kissing her, instead she carefully pushed Vastra back to the wall and started placing kisses down her neck. It was quite a treatment for Vastra, feeling her wife’s warm lips on her scales. Unintentionally she started purring a little, lazily standing against the wall, letting Jenny pleasure her a bit longer.

“Jenny…”  
She mumbled again, a bit louder this time, and Jenny’s eyes opened and glimpsed up at her. Her cheeks were reddened, and she was breathing a little faster than usual. The Silurian snickered and traced Jenny’s lips with her thumb.

“You’re already out of breath, dearest?”  
She mumbled and swiftly switched their positions, Jenny now being the one pressed against the wall. Spurred on by Jenny’s soft panting, Vastra grinned cheekily and let her fingers trail down Jenny’s neck, then up to her lips again, feeling the warm short breaths Jenny let out. Jenny’s eyes displayed hunger for more affection, for kisses, soft and passionate, for Vastra. With a cheeky smile the lizard continued touching Jenny’s skin with her gloved hand, feeling her wife tremble more with every touch.

“By the goddess… Stop teasin’ and kiss me already…”  
Jenny spit out and glowered at Vastra who just raised an eye ridge and now touched Jenny with her other hand, pressing her cool scales against Jenny’s hot skin carefully. The woman leaned into the touch, biting her lip to keep herself quiet.

With a tilt of her head Vastra eyed Jenny again, brown eyes meeting her own. Jenny’s red cheeks spurred the lizard on as she finally leaned down to her wife’s lips. She hesitated for a short moment before pressing her lips on Jenny’s. Knowing how much Jenny enjoyed this, Vastra decided to pleasure her a little before they had to go back to investigating. With half closed eyes she placed soft kisses down Jenny’s neck and eventually gave her one last kiss on the lips before slowly withdrawing with her scaled cheeks flushed dark green. Jenny looked up at Vastra with glowing eyes, her cheeks deep red, a mischievous smile on her lips.

“What is it, my dear?”  
Vastra asked and winked at Jenny who immediately got even more flustered.  
“Damn… Yer a good kisser…”  
“I have more skills than just this, my sweet… You know…”  
Her gaze wandered down to Jenny’s skirt as she approached her again, Jenny’s back pressed against the wall again. Vastra hummed a little while she held Jenny against the wall with just one hand and wandered down, tugging at her dress a little.

“Do… Don’t you dare… Not ‘ere!”  
“Why not, my love? You scared?”  
“You?”  
“Thrilled, better fitting word…”  
“In the cab…”  
“Promise?”  
“Yes! Now stop teasin’ and come back up again, darling…”  
With a grumble Vastra got back up and stood tall. She nodded and waved around the room.

“Let’s get this over with… I can take a look at the lamps… Before you decide to climb another chair, love… Unlike you, I don’t need one to reach up there…”  
Jenny’s eyes narrowed and she glowered at her wife, crossing her arms in front of her chest.  
“Bloody tall lizard…”  
Quickly she stood on her tiptoes and placed another soft kiss on Vastra’s cheek before heading off to the bed where Daniel Blanchard was resting. As Jenny approached, she slowed down. Right next to his head there was a bit of sand, similar to the sand she saw with Sylvia the other day.  
Glancing over at Vastra who was inspecting the lights and, even though she claimed otherwise, needed a chair as well to reach up. A sassy comment was resting on the tip of Jenny’s tongue; however she didn’t let it out, thinking back to the wonderful kisses they had just shared. She blushed again but when she turned her head back to the sleeping man, she started biting her lip.

Without wasting another thought, she pulled out a little bag and put some of the sand in it. One of their scanners might be able to tell them something about the molecular structure of this sand or give them a hint what might have caused the never-ending sleep.  
“Jenny, are you finished, my dear? Did you find anything of interest?”  
“Uh… ‘m ready… We can leave now, hm?”  
Vastra didn’t see the sand the last time, perhaps there was some kind of perception filter on it so only humans could see it? As soon as they were back home, Jenny told herself, she’d analyse the sand and hope for it to hint at something useful.

********

“Thank you for letting us come and for the information you could give us, Miss Blanchard. We will inform you upon any new discoveries we might make.”  
“Oh, the pleasure was mine, Madame Vastra… Thank you for visiting…”

“Strax, we’re off!”  
Vastra yelled and Strax got the cab door open for them to step inside.  
“I could once again not find any traces of anything. Whoever did this must be clever… It will bring me great joy to blow them up and cut their brain into little pieces!”  
“Strax, not while the lady is still out…”  
Jenny scolded him and shook her head.  
“Oh, I apologize, timid human!”  
he yelled and waved at Miss Blanchard whose eyes grew big as she quickly got back inside, shaking her head at Strax’ behaviour.

“Strax, we have talked about this, I believe? Please do not scare away the apes… Their minds can be so fragile…”  
“Oi!”  
Jenny complained and smacked Vastra’s head, the Silurian hissed, and both started giggling.  
“I’m sorry, my love… You are an exception to this statement… Don’t worry, my sweet love…”  
“Din’t mean it like that neither… Did I? Well, let’s ‘ead to the next one then… Still a few more people to see today… Life as detectives, eh? Tough.”  
Jenny yawned and quickly covered her mouth.  
“Sorry, ma’am… Mus’ be all the goin’ round… Oh, I believe thas the next one, Strax…”  
She handed him her address book and pointed at the fourth in line.  
“Oh, yes! I know this street! I believe it was the one where I managed to hunt down one of the little girls with big facial hair and-…”  
Vastra nodded and sighed.  
“I know, Strax. You told me about how you nearly cut him in half vertically quite a few times.”  
“Hm… In the cab with you, Madame…”  
He held out his three-fingered hand to Vastra, she took it and stepped inside the carriage. Then he turned to Jenny and did the same.  
“Boy.”  
“Thank you, Strax…”  
Jenny said and followed after her wife. Right behind her, Strax slammed the door quite energetic, making both of them shrug at the noise.

When the cab started moving, Vastra glanced at Jenny and started fiddling with the buttons of her dress. Jenny slowly lifted her head from Vastra’s shoulder and blinked a few times before she faced the Silurian. With a big smile she nodded and gently took off Vastra’s gloves, placing kisses at the scaled hands as she did so. Then she placed Vastra’s hand at her cheek and leaned into the touch of the cool scales.  
“Well, my dear… Should we continue where we left off before?”


	7. Billy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paternoster Gang visits another one of the victims, a little boy this time, and ask him some questions, finally finding out a little bit more about the "sleeping curse".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, my titles are uncreative, I know...

„So, I am right in thinking your son is asleep now, Miss Parker?”  
Vastra asked and lifted the cheap teacup up underneath her veil and took a sip. For a family this poor, their tea was surprisingly delicious.  
“Yes, he’s been asleep for two days now… We just don’t know why this is happening…”  
“When did it start? Could you tell us a bit about it?”  
She nodded and fixed a point on the table, then she started speaking. Jenny, having her notebook ready, pulled out a pen and waited for Miss Parker to tell them about her son.  
“Well, it started about six days back, you see… He was out playing with some friends and when he came home, he fell down right there and was asleep… My father said he mumbled something before that, but he’s old and deaf, you see… He could only see him babble something. We carried him to his bed and there he rested… But his face… He was scared…”  
“Scared of what?”  
The woman in front of them shook her head and Jenny lifted her eyes from her quickly scribbled notes. Vastra sat there, now clearly intrigued, Jenny could see her eyes sparkle even from the corner of her eyes and smiled a little.  
“Miss Parker, we have found a few clues so far… Can you confirm that those were the case here as well?”  
She nodded and Vastra turned round to Jenny.  
“Would you please read them out loud?”  
“Yes, ma’am… First… Lights switchin’ colour to violet before ‘e falls asleep?”  
“That happened… Yes… We thought there might be a connection…”  
“Is it gettin’ ‘arder to wake ‘im up?”  
“Daily… He’s been sleeping for one and a half days now…”  
Jenny looked down at her notes, glanced at Vastra and raised her voice again.  
“Did ‘e say anythin’ ‘bout sand?”  
Vastra turned her head and tilted it a little, still wondering why this was bugging her wife so much.  
“I don’t know, I can’t remember…”

“If I may interrupt, Madame. Can we talk to your little girl right now?”  
Strax stepped forward and his tiny eyes fixed Miss Parker, Vastra and Jenny both were a little surprised at his sudden participation in this interrogation, neither of them minding it too much, though.  
“I have a son…”  
“Oh, I’m sorry, timid human. You all look the same to me…”  
“Strax…”  
Jenny whispered and shook her head, her look telling him to stay quiet for now.  
“As my butler requested, we would like to speak to your son if it is possible…”  
Vastra concluded and looked back at the mother in front of her again, impatiently wiggling her head a little.  
“I mean… We could wake him up, he should eat something anyway. This way, please.”

“That’s his room… I can wake him and stay with him… He will want to know what’s going-…”  
“It’s alright, Miss Parker. We will take good care of your son. Don’t worry. Jenny here is fantastic with children…”  
Vastra mused, an amused smile on her lips, only growing bigger beneath her veil as Jenny glowered at her.  
“We should get started. Would you please leave the room, Miss Parker? We will call for you if we need any help… And worry not, we will not hurt your son or push him beyond his boundaries, we will just talk to him…”  
Vastra gave her an encouraging nod and held open the door for her to leave. After she left, the lizard closed the door and locked it, then went back to the bed.  
“Fantastic with children!?”  
Jenny complained and crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
“What? You are, my sweet…”  
The Silurian mumbled and came close, flipping her veil back and placing one hand at Jenny’s chin. Longingly she gazed down at the young woman’s lips and then back into her beloved brown eyes.  
“Yer right, me darlin’… Now come ‘ere…”  
She placed both her hands at Vastra’s cheeks and pulled her down, passionately kissing her.

They were interrupted by Strax who let out a loud sigh and pointed at the boy.  
“Should we not wake the human instead of… smooching, Madame?”  
Both blushed and let go of each other, Vastra let out a low growl to show her discontent at Strax disturbing their kiss.  
“Should I wake him, Madame? I have some grenades ready!”  
Strax suggested and pointed at his little bag under his arm.  
“Strax, fer the las’ time… We ain’t wakin’ no one with grenades… We jus’ gonna shake ‘im till ‘e wakes up or somethin’…”  
Jenny sat down next to the boy and gently shook him, her voice was soft and loving.  
“’ey, little one… Wake up… Come on, t’s much more fun bein’ awake than asleep…”  
Slowly the little boy’s eyes started twitching, he opened them and just seconds later he clung to Jenny, crying into her chest. A bit confused she caressed his head and tried calming him down.  
“’ello, little one… No need to cry… We’re ‘ere to ‘elp… Yer can trus’ us… Don’ worry… Everythin’ will be good and fine again… Wanna tell me wot ‘appened?”  
Vastra watched intrigued as her wife calmed down the little boy with ever so soft words, they calmed her as well, she didn’t even know why, and something started burning inside her, she wanted to be close to Jenny right now… Instead of the little boy.  
One of the boy’s brown eyes peered around the room, glancing over at Vastra (she had her veil down again, of course) and then at Strax, where his eyes got stuck.  
“Woooow!”  
He made and got up, walking over to Strax.  
“Madame! What does the human want???”  
He asked, visibly confused.  
“I warn you, girl! I have grenades and compact lasers! Don’t you dare attacking me!”  
But instead of attacking the Sontaran, he wrapped his arms around him and giggled a genuine laugh. Vastra and Jenny looked at each other and started grinning as well.  
“Wot were yer sayin’ ‘bout me bein’ good with the kids? Look at ‘im, ‘e’s even better…”  
The woman joked and pointed at Strax.  
“Perhaps I should take him with me then to help me on this case and leave you at home…”  
“Oh, stop teasin’, yer daft ol’ lizard…”  
Seemingly forgetting the little boy was in the room, Jenny placed a soft kiss on Vastra’s lips after flipping her veil back.

“Woooow!”  
This time, the little boy interrupted their moment. Immediately, Jenny pushed Vastra away and froze, staring down at her hands, cursing at herself for pushing her love away. She didn’t mean to, after all.  
“You like the lizard lady!”  
He yelled and nodded.  
“She’s really pretty! And your potato friend is funny! He talks funny things!”  
Jenny smiled in relief and grabbed Vastra’s hand. The lizard glowered at her a little but as she felt the warm hand grabbing hers, she smiled again and calmed down as well.  
“You… Are not scared?”  
“Nah, why would I be? Your friend’s super funny! He even made me forget my nightmares for a bit…”  
“Nightmares?”  
Vastra now asked, a concerned look on her face. The little boy, Billy was his name, let go of Strax and nodded, facing the ground afterwards.  
“Yeah… I… When I go to bed and sleep, I see terrible things… But the dream doesn’t stop! And mommy and daddy don’t believe me! They say I sleep so long and there’s always this sand and…”  
“Sand? Come, sit ‘ere… We’re detectives… We’re ‘ere to investigate… There’s a bunch of people like you, fallin’ asleep ‘nd dreamin’ terrible things… All talk’d of sand… Wot d’er mean? Where does it come from?”  
Jenny had made room for the boy on the bed and gave him a concerned look.  
“Well, it’s always coming out my eyes just before I fall asleep… Something’s telling me to… To sleep… I don’t want to because then the nightmares start again… But I can’t resist it…”  
“We will make sure to find out what is going on, promise. We just have a few questions about how this works…”  
Vastra moved a little closer, she had pulled her veil down again.  
“You don’t have to wear your veil, lizard lady… I’m not scared… And you’re very pretty.”  
“Oh. Thank you, little ape…”  
She mumbled and blushed. Vastra couldn’t remember the last time someone didn’t back away from her, was scared or called her a monster. Besides Jenny, of course. Jenny was her exception to the rule, to every single one of her rules.  
However, the Silurian’s eyes darkened as she thought back to their first encounter with one of the victims. When Sylvia called her a monster in front of Jenny…  
Her blue eyes looked the little Billy up and down. He was so innocent, judging neither her nor Strax for their looks… Soon this pure mind would be tainted with hatred by societal coercion, the though of that made her growl a little, wanting to keep the little boy’s mind open, as open as it was now.  
As the little boy wanted, she took off her veil and gave him a toothy smile while wiggling her head a little. Jenny couldn’t help but giggle at her wife’s behaviour, it seemed they were all getting along well with children, better than with adults, due to their still open minds. Their view of the world hasn’t been compromised and limited yet…   
Billy was accepting of them, all of them. He was only five, yet he was more accepting than most adults were, especially when it came to Vastra.  
“Can I play with the potato man? He is nice.”  
“What? Hehe…”  
Strax scratched his head and smiled; it looked terrifying, to be honest, but he seemed really touched at the boy’s comment. The Sontaran actually liked the boy as well.  
“We can! After Madame finished interrogating you, of course. I can teach you how to throw grenades!”  
“Strax, no!”  
Jenny scolded and shook her head.  
“No grenades! Yer can play with ‘im tho… You two seem to get along extraord’narily well…”  
“Alright, the human seems to be better than most of his kind. I am looking forward to teaching you techniques of the Sontaran empire! How old are you?”  
“Five, sir!”  
Billy shouted proudly and held up five fingers. Strax held up one of his hands, saw it only had three fingers, and held up two fingers of his other hand as well.  
“Five! What a glorious age! Tell me, how many battles have you fought?”  
“Strax, I think it is enough now! We have to interrogate him…”  
The Silurian’s voice was loud and indomitable, she stood a little taller.  
Jenny smiled a little as a chill ran down her spine at her wife’s determined voice, she straightened her back and glanced over at Vastra with rosy cheeks. Then she patted on the bed besides her and gestured Billy to sit down again.  
“So, wot’s yer name? For starters?”  
“Billy. Billy Parker…”  
Jenny nodded and smiled at him; it was a warm smile.  
“’m Jenny. Jenny Flint. An’ thas Strax an’ ma’am Vastra…”  
As Jenny spoke her name, Vastra blushed a little, her scales going a darker green. She smiled and sat down next to Jenny, taking the warm human hand in hers, still covered in a glove.  
“The lizard lady likes you as well, doesn’t she?”  
Billy asked and gave them a wide toothy grin again. He pointed at Vastra’s flustered face and her hand holding Jenny’s. They immediately let go of each other’s hand; Jenny looked down and bit her lip.  
“Don’t worry, Miss Jenny. I won’t tell anyone. I like that. I think it doesn’t matter who you are with, as long as you love them, and they love you…”  
Vastra and Jenny turned to look at each other, both their mouths opened in awe. This child was definitely their favourite so far… Now with a confident smile, Jenny placed her hand in Vastra’s again and continued her interrogation. Somehow, Vastra and Jenny decided without words that Jenny would ask the little boy questions.  
“So, yer were talkin’ ‘bout nigh’mares, eh? Wot’r they ‘bout, Billy?”  
The little boy looked down at his hands and started biting his lip a bit.  
“You know how you sometimes fear losing people you like? Or your family? I… I dreamt that… That I lost them all… And… It’s not like I never had that nightmare before… It’s just… It didn’t stop… I sat there and didn’t wake up… I couldn’t… I couldn’t!”  
He started sobbing and buried his face in his hands. All three of them came closer and tried comforting him.  
“’ey… t’s a’right… t’s jus’ a dream, ya know…”  
“You don’t have to worry, little ape. We will find out who did this and let him pay.”  
Strax’ three-fingered hand rested on Billy’s shoulder and stroked him while Vastra was getting a handkerchief out her pocket and handed it to him.  
“We will obliterate them with great joy! And your nightmares will fade away, brave warrior girl!”  
Jenny rolled her eyes.  
“Strax, ‘e’s a boy…”  
“Oh, brave warrior boy, then… Better, boy?”  
“And Jenny’s a woman… You know that… Right?”  
Strax narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded.  
“Oh, yes…”

After a few minutes Billy calmed down again. He was holding Vastra’s handkerchief in cramped hands and still sobbed from time to time. But he was mostly calm now, Jenny decided to continue with questions.  
“So… Yer family wakes yer from the nightmares? An’… When yer wanna fall asleep… How’s it around you?”  
Billy brought one hand up to his eye and rubbed it a little, Jenny could see sand come out, stared at it, but kept quiet. She still had to find out what exactly this sand was as soon as they returned to Paternoster Row.  
“Well, something suddenly tells me to sleep… Like… A voice… And my eyes feel like there’s sand in them… And the lights are being silly… Even the candles…”  
“They flicker in violet light?”  
Vastra asked in a low voice, her blue eyes piercing the little boy who rubbed his eye again.  
“Thas… Some new information, innit?”  
Jenny mumbled and scribbled down what Billy had told them in a few sentences. Vastra nodded in agreement and now gazed into the mid-distance, thinking about how all of this fit together.  
“Yes, my dear… It is…”

“Can I play with the little Billy human now, Madame?”  
“Yeah, we’re finish’d ‘ere anyways, Strax…”  
With a big smile Billy hopped off the bed and ran over to Strax, hugging him again. This time, the Sontaran wrapped his arms around the boy as well.  
“Strax? We expect you home at nine pm the latest! Yes?”  
“Yes, Madame! Now come on, human warrior, I shall tell you great stories…”  
With that Strax and Billy, a rather odd couple, rushed out.  
Vastra picked up her veil, smiled at Jenny and left the room. Jenny glanced at the sand on the bed, quickly pulled out a little bag and put some of the sand in it. Then she followed after her wife who was currently thanking Miss Parker for letting them talk to Billy. As she reassured her for the third time that Strax was in fact allowed to play with Billy and wasn’t dangerous at all (at least after Vastra and Jenny took his grenades), Miss Parker finally stopped worrying.  
“To be honest, I’m glad he’s outside again… I told you, he’s been asleep for one and a half days! He’s gone so pale…”  
“’m sure an evenin’ with Strax will do ‘im good then… ‘e’s quite… enthusiastic…”  
Jenny mumbled after a short yawn and gave Miss Parker a soft smile. She thanked her as well for inviting them and followed after Vastra who was already heading for their carriage. As Strax was occupied with Billy, Vastra was the one who had to drive the cab back. She sighed. Although she was talented in many ways, driving cabs wasn’t one of her talents.  
“Madame Vastra?”  
Miss Parker had followed after them.  
“We would like to thank you for your visit… As… As you can see, we are not exactly wealthy… But if there’s anything we can help you with-…”  
Vastra’s face lit up underneath her veil.  
“Actually, there is something… As our butler Strax is enjoying the presence of your son, we do not have a cabman…”  
“Oh! Of course! Wait here for a moment…”  
With that, she headed back inside. Jenny leaned against Vastra and closed her eyes.  
“Yer don’ wanna drive the cab yerself, hu?”  
“Jenny, you know my driving… I don’t want you having to endure my terrible driving one more time…”  
“Yeah… An’… We couln’t have… privacy…”  
“Exactly, my love…”

“Alright! This here is Dave… He is a good friend… Just tell him where you have to go… He could return here with the cab and your butler can drive home with it later… If you are alright with this?”  
Vastra looked at Jenny who nodded and smiled. The lizard turned back to Miss Parker.  
“We are glad to accept your offer, Miss Parker. This will help us a lot. Thank you! Of course, we will not charge you anything in return. Well, Jenny, let’s head back then, shall we?”  
Jenny covered her mouth to hide a yawn and nodded.  
“Yeah… We’re ‘eadin’ for Paternoster Row… Might know it, fancy street an’ all…”  
“Ya! Know that one! Well, get in!”  
He held his hand out for Vastra to take and helped Jenny inside the cab as well.  
As soon as they sat down, the cab started moving and Vastra closed all curtains, took off her veil and gloves and smiled at Jenny who leaned against her shoulder and closed her eyes.  
“Would you like to have some fun, my sweet love?”  
Vastra whispered, careful not to speak too loud. She didn’t want Dave to hear them.  
“Hmhm…”  
Jenny just made and opened her heavy eyelids again, smiling at Vastra before leaning in for a tender kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like I had to include a child in the group of victims. I didn't actually plan him to be like this, but I think it's a nice contrast to how probably most other people reacted (especially Sylvia, the first victim they interrogated).
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Sleep now and dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra and Jenny are on their way back to Paternoster Row. In the cab, Jenny seems to be scared of something. Vastra tries comforting her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold, the angst begins!

“Jenny?”  
Vastra quietly asked when their kiss stopped. She tilted her head and placed one hand at her wife’s chin, smiling at her. Jenny’s eyes were still half closed, until she suddenly flustered them open again.  
“Yeah? ‘m sorry… Yer jus’… wonderful…”  
She smiled at Vastra who’s expression became more serious now. She took a closer look at Jenny and bit her lip.  
“Jenny, are you alright?”  
“Yes… I… It’s nothin’… Was jus’ lost in thought, was I?”  
“Yeah…”  
Slowly Jenny placed her head against Vastra’s chest and let out a sigh of content. Vastra chuckled a little and started caressing Jenny’s back.  
“Yer comfy… Could get used to that…”  
“Oh, but dear… Don’t you already do this all the time?”  
Vastra teased and gentle placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead, inhaling her wife’s scent deep into her lungs, letting her breath stroke over her wife’s temple. The young woman in her arms seemed to shiver a little at the teasing and lifted her head again, just to glance up into Vastra’s eyes.  
“Teasin’… Unfair, love…”  
“How do you come to that conclusion, my dearest love?”  
A triumphant smile plastered the Silurian’s lips as her wife’s face got flustered and she glowered up at her. Vastra couldn’t say she didn’t like the raging fire in Jenny’s eyes, in fact, she loved it. What concerned her in this moment was that although the human was glowering at her as always, the fire inside her eyes seemed somehow… Smaller, almost gone. It was more of a weak glimmer.  
“My sweet… Are you sure you are alright?”  
Jenny nodded and placed her head against Vastra’s chest again, listening to her strong warrior’s heartbeat, matching her breaths.  
Vastra let out a slight chuckle. Her little ape was really testing her, and Jenny didn’t even seem to notice it. Her heartbeat speeded up a little when she peered down at Jenny again.

Then, suddenly, Jenny’s hands clenched the fabric of Vastra’s dress, and she let out a few sharp breaths. Alarmed, the lizard looked at her wife and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a little.  
“Love!? My love! What’s wrong?? Tell me! I KNOW something is not right here!”  
Still, Jenny shook her head, whining a few times, her hands clinging onto Vastra more desperate as her breath became faster and faster. The Silurian’s eyes widened in fear, her beloved wife looked so scared of something…  
“Jenny… Jenny, my love… My sweet Jenny… Look at me… Look at me… Focus on me… Please…”  
Vastra muttered, still frozen in fear, waiting for the woman’s brown eyes to find hers. However, they didn’t. Instead, Jenny’s whining turned into frantic sobs, cries for Vastra’s help, babbled words and sentences the Silurian couldn’t make any sense of.  
Only when she placed her hand at Jenny’s cheek to make her look up, Vastra noticed her own hands had started shaking. She forced Jenny to turn her head and look deep into her eyes, trying to breathe calmly. Slowly, the woman’s breath adjusted to hers.  
Deep breath in, deep breath out.  
After a few minutes, Jenny was still staring up into Vastra’s eyes, she was calm again and even managed to form a little smile.  
“My love… What is wrong?”  
Vastra demanded to know, her voice quiet and concerned at the same time. Her hands had stopped shaking and Jenny’s had stopped frenetically clinging to her, as if she were trying to hold on for her life at stake.  
“Vastra…”  
She whispered, her voice immediately turning into a sob again, still, she continued looking into the lizard’s eyes.  
“I’m… I’m scared…”  
“Of what, my sweetest? Of what? Tell me… Please…”  
At the end, Vastra’s voice was barely more than a soundless whisper, begging desperately for an answer. Her beloved Jenny, her heart, her soul, was scared of something which wasn’t something the lizard was used to… Never this much that Jenny wouldn’t just tell her.  
“Are you tired, love? Please… rest when you are tired… Here… I will be here, and I will watch over you. By my heart, I swear no harm will come to you, my dearest Jenny…”  
Hesitantly Jenny nodded and placed her head against Vastra’s chest again, making herself comfortable in the lizards arms. She let out a few relaxed breaths and smiled weakly.  
“Thank you… Me darlin’…”  
Vastra blushed a little and nodded, then she buried her nose in Jenny’s hair and took deep breaths. She’d find out what was going on, she swore that to herself. No one would do any harm to Jenny and remain unpunished. One of her hands grasped the fabric of Jenny’s dress tight. For nothing Vastra could wish more right now than for some villain she could stab with her sword to protect her wife from them. But as Jenny refused to tell her what exactly was going on, how should she help?  
Vastra’s hand clenched more and suddenly, her wife gasped loudly. Vastra immediately pulled her hands back, on one of her hands, there was blood.  
“Jenny! Jenny! Turn round, my love! What have I done!?”  
With shaking hands she made her love turn around, at one spot the fabric of Jenny’s dress was ripped, little bleeding wounds underneath. Vastra’s eyes widened in shock as she stared down at her hands again.  
Claws. Too long. She must’ve forgotten to shorten them the day before.  
“I’m sorry… I am so sorry, my dearest love… Forgive me… I… I didn’t mean to hu-…”  
Jenny quietly shook her head, placed her lips on Vastra’s and caressed her back gently.  
“t’s a’right…”  
“No, it’s not! You’re bleeding! I hurt you!”  
“Vastra…”  
A warm smile lay on Jenny’s lips, yet there was pain in her eyes, pain that Vastra knew was her fault. She pulled back her hands and pressed them against her own chest, trying to bring distance between her and Jenny.  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny whispered again, reaching out for her hands, her own shaking a little. She gasped at every movement, the wounds on her back hurting more than she thought. Still, she didn’t want the Silurian to be scared. And it had a positive effect as well; Jenny was distracted from her own fear. Her hand froze and she blinked a few times, giving Vastra another reassuring smile.  
“I hurt you! Don’t touch me!”  
The lizard hissed and slid further away from her, the scaled hands had started shaking and a sound that could be described as whining came from Vastra.  
“Shh… I can… bar’ly e’en feel it… Now come ‘ere, stupid lizard…”  
“I… but you’re bleeding… See!?”  
Vastra held out her hand, only a bit of blood on her claws. Slowly and carefully Jenny reached out for the green hand and placed it in between of her own. She traced over the scales and placed a soft kiss in Vastra’s palm; the Silurian shivered.  
“Jenny…”  
“Shhh… t’s a’right… Don’ worry… I ‘ad worse wounds, remember?”  
“But I did this to-…”  
“Vastra… My love… Yer don’ ‘ave to be scared… Not like you ‘aven’t ‘urt me before… In training an’ stuff…”  
Jenny chuckled and winked at Vastra, after, she rubbed her eye and placed her warm hand on Vastra’s cheek. Her other hand still held Vastra’s tight.  
„Pretty…“  
In slow movements she brought Vastra’s hand, the one with a bit of blood on it, up and placed her own palm against the scaled one. With an affectionate smile she intertwined her fingers with Vastra’s, one by one.  
“Prettiest ‘ands… Purest, most wonderful ‘ands…”  
Jenny mused and half closed her eyes, then flustered them open again and grasped Vastra’s hand tight, biting her lip.  
“You’re pretty…”  
She pressed and gave Vastra another smile, then placed a kiss on her wife’s hand. The Silurian pulled it back, out of Jenny’s grasp.  
„My hands have already been tainted in blood… They’re not pure… And I hurt you… I…“  
Before she could bring any distance between herself and Jenny, the young woman had already grabbed her hand again, and placed their palm against each other again.  
„First, yer din’t ‘urt me… Second… Yer ‘and’s still pretty… An’ third… Look at ‘ow small me ‘and is…”  
Vastra couldn’t help but laugh at her wife’s comment. It didn’t really sound like a grown up, more like a little child. But Jenny had succeeded; Vastra was smiling again.  
“You’re acting like a child, my love…”  
“I ain’t no child!”  
Jenny pouted now but started giggling soon after, placing a soft kiss on Vastra’s cheek.  
“Don’ worry, yer din’t ‘urt me… Let’s jus’ clean yer ‘and an’ enjoy the ride ‘ome…”  
“Let me look at your wound, dearest… Please…”  
With a defeated sigh Jenny turned round, one of her hands was still holding Vastra’s. She could feel the other cool hand on her back, coming closer to the wounds, touching them. Quietly Jenny bit her lip; she didn’t want Vastra to worry. Of course, it hurt. But what hurt Jenny even more was seeing her wife so desperate and scared…  
“It looks painful… I’m sorry… I will… I will make sure this will never happen again!”  
In a swift move Jenny turned back round and pressed her lips on Vastra’s, the kiss growing more passionate as Vastra pulled Jenny close and wrapped her arms around her. When the Silurian stopped the kiss to let Jenny gasp for air, she noticed how her wife’s eyes were still closed, soft panting filled the cab.  
Jenny’s hands had started shaking behind Vastra’s back, gritting the fabric of her dress once again. Forcefully Jenny opened her eyes, her panting got louder and grew more desperate, sounding more like sobbing now.  
„Jenny… What is it!?”  
Vastra’s eyes were widened in fear. The second time on their ride home Jenny was acting so different.  
“My dearest… My Jenny… Talk to me… What is it? Are you scared?? What are you scared of?”  
Jenny didn’t hear her, she brought one hand up to her head and held it, begging to be left alone, crying out for Vastra to help, to hold her close and help.  
“Help… Please… Vastra… Vastra… Help… Stay… No… Help!”  
“Jenny! JENNY!”  
The lizard started violently shaking her wife, not knowing what to do. As that didn’t help, she held Jenny close, kissed the top of her head and begged her to talk.  
“Jenny… My love… My poor, poor love… What is it… What’s torturing you? Please, talk to me… Please… I want to help you… My dearest… Please…”  
Weakly a shaking hand reached up to Vastra’s cheek, Jenny’s frantic sobs went quiet, her breath slowed a little as she felt the familiar scales her hand was tracing.  
“Vastra…”  
A sigh of relief.  
Then Jenny cuddled into Vastra’s arms and smiled up at her.  
“Jenny! What just happened? You… You were… Crying… For help… Begging… What… What is it?”  
“t’s nothin’… I jus’… I dunno… Was weird… Uh… But yer ‘ere an’ I’m ‘ere… Ev’rythin’ fine… Don’ worry…”  
“But I am! I am worrying, my heart! I do not like secrets and I particularly don’t like them when you are crying for my help without telling me what exactly I should help you with! Talk to me, my love… Please…”  
“I… I don’ know, ma’am… I really don’ know…”  
“Ma’am?”  
Vastra tilted her head at the formal phrase, breaking the embrace she held Jenny in.  
“No… Stay… Please…”  
Jenny begged and pulled her close again. Her eye was itching a little, like there was something in it. Slowly she brought up her hand and rubbed her eye, glancing up into Vastra’s worried blue eyes.  
“’m fine, me love… Don’ worry… Should we clean yer beautiful pure ‘and now?”  
“My hand is not beautiful. Neither is it pure, my sweet… It’s tainted in blood.”  
„Vastra… It’ll be a’right… I love yer ‘ands… Fer mine are as tainted as yers are…“  
With that Jenny placed her soft lips on Vastra’s hand and tried kissing every single one of Vastra’s scales. Impossible, of course, for there were so many. With one last kiss on the lizard’s golden ring, she sat up again and smiled at Vastra, leaning into the loving embrace again. Quietly she got a handkerchief out and wiped the bit of blood from Vastra’s hand.  
“See? t’s fine… No more blood… Me darlin’…”  
Again, Jenny’s hands started shaking a little, she quickly buried them in the fabric of Vastra’s dress and looked down, biting her lip a little.  
“Oh, my beautiful Jenny… My wonderful Jenny… I love you more than anything… Is there anything I can do to stop you being scared? I can see the fear in your eyes…”  
The Silurian whispered as she placed her hand on Jenny’s chin and made her look up. Blue orbs met brown ones, intense staring between them. Jenny slowly shook her head and gave her wife a soft smile.  
“’m fine… Don’ worry… Jus’… Can we jus’ cuddle? An’… Yer can tell me a story, eh?”  
Vastra chuckled and placed a loving kiss on Jenny’s forehead.  
“A story? Like the ones you tell little apes?”  
“I ain’t no ape… An’ I ain’t little neither…”  
“Hush, my dear… Now listen…”  
Vastra started narrating. Her soft voice, rolling the Rs a little, resting a little on the Ss, calmed Jenny down and let her forget her fears, at least for a few hours.  
She told Jenny of fights with monsters. Stories of Cybermen in Japan, Jenny could remember that fight well. It was the first time she actually got to use her sword in a fight. She could remember the dread she felt when Vastra told her what Cybermen were and how they ‘updated’ people. Then stories of Vastra’s journey to Egypt followed, tales of the great warrior of earth, Jenny Flint, who defeated the Kraal alongside the Doctor. Then followed a story of a mighty ancient warrior falling in love with a human, the fairest and kindest of them, and how they came to adopt a clone warrior from outer space as their butler. More and more little tales of their adventures followed, Jenny could remember all of them in close detail. From time to time she rubbed her eyes. She felt quite exhausted from the day, but Vastra’s soothing voice kept all evil from her, her warm embrace protected her against the bad of the world, Vastra’s loving gaze and the energy with which she retold all their adventures kept Jenny from falling asleep, and teased her at the same time to stay awake. Every now and then, when Vastra described the relationship between the heavenly beautiful human woman with the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen and the ancient Silurian warrior with emerald scales on her body, she leaned down to place a kiss on Jenny’s lips, cheek, or forehead.

Time flew by as Vastra told stories and it wasn’t soon after that the cab came to a halt. Dave hurried to the door and knocked.  
“Madame? I think this should be your home. May I?”  
In a hurry, Vastra put her veil and gloves back on. Jenny watched her; her shaking hands well hidden behind her back. The stories made her feel better, made her forget her fears, but they crept back into Jenny’s mind in this very moment. Quietly she rubbed her eye again and stared down at her hand, hiding it again with her eyes widened in fear.  
“Of course, thank you for driving us home.”  
Madame Vastra opened the cab door, placed her hand in Dave’s and stepped down. Then she turned and held out her hand to Jenny who stared down at it and then climbed out herself. The Silurian tilted her head.  
Did Jenny not want to take her hand because the male ape was there?  
“I’ll let your butler drive home with the cab later, yeah?”  
“Yeah, thanks fer drivin’ us, Dave!”  
Jenny waved and the two of them waited till he sat back up again, and the carriage disappeared at the end of the street.  
“Well, my dear…”  
Vastra started and reached for Jenny’s hand, holding it tight after feeling how much she was shaking. It was better not to ask now, Vastra decided, she could do that in private.  
“We should get back in… It’s cold.”  
She stated and walked towards the door, Jenny following after her. The young woman rubbed her eyes once more, something didn’t stop itching…

As they closed the door to Paternoster Row, Vastra turned to face Jenny, taking off her veil.  
“My dear… What’s wrong? You are acting strange… I am worried for you, my love…”  
“I told yer… t’s nothin’…”  
Vastra raised an eye ridge at that and pulled her into an embrace.  
“Jenny, love… I know it’s never nothing… Especially when you say it like that… I will make us tea and you will tell me… Yes? I need to know…”  
With a sly smile, Jenny nodded and rested her forehead against her wife’s chest.  
“Love yer… Tea sounds good… t’s jus’… A long day… An’ ev’rythin’…”  
“Yes, it was a long day indeed… You deserve to rest. Sit down, I will make us tea and lit the fire… Yes, my sweet Jenny?”  
With that she left into the kitchen, searching for a teapot and her favourite tea.  
As soon as Jenny stood alone, she blinked and blinked, trying to clear her eyes. As she rubbed them, her hands seemed covered in something, sand. The exact same sand she had seen with Sylvia, little Billy and all the other victims. The sand no one else could see. She had felt the same, just weaker, on their way back. But Jenny didn't want Vastra to be frightened on their way back, knowing the Silurian might've gone feral and killed someone, in the worst case. Anyways, it would be best if she told her as soon as they had arrived back home. But now something was keeping her from speaking.  
Just as she wanted to shout for Vastra to warn her that whatever was causing this had infected her as well, a voice sounded in her head.  
“SLEEP! SLEEP NOW AND DREAM!”  
It was the same voice she had heard earlier, in the carriage, when she had managed to cry for Vastra’s help. Again, Jenny opened her mouth, wanting to warn her love.  
"SLEEEEEP! RIGHT NOOOOW!”  
The voice demanded and she sunk to the ground, her eyes closing, following the voice’s orders. Just as her head met the floor, she heard steps come closer and someone seemingly shouting from far away.

Vastra just finished cooking tea and returned to Jenny, when she saw her wife sink to the ground. Quickly she placed the tray down and ran to Jenny, shouting her name. But when she reached her, the woman was already resting on the floor.  
In panic, Vastra checked her pulse, but it was fine. Low, constant breaths. Sleeping. Jenny was just sleeping.

The day must’ve been exhausting for her, Vastra thought. In one move she picked her up and carried her up to the bed. Undressing her in sleep wasn’t that big of a deal for Vastra, dressing her again, however, was much harder, partially because the lizard felt colder and colder, no fire was lit here, and that slowed her down.  
Wrapping Jenny in a blanket, she lay her down and went over to lit a fire. For a few minutes, Vastra was resting in front of the fire, absorbing its heat, before she strayed over to the bed to watch Jenny for a bit.  
The Silurian’s face turned pale as she saw her wife’s frightened expression, her shaking hands. Quickly she sat down in bed and placed Jenny’s head in her lap.  
“My love… Don’t be frightened… I’m here… I will always be… Shhh…”  
Vastra tried calming her down, swiftly removing all the pins that held Jenny’s hair up. To relax both, Jenny and herself, she ran her fingers through Jenny’s long hair, trying to avoid getting tangled in it.  
“Oh, Jenny… My sweet love… What is wrong? Are you scared? Is it bad dreams? Or does something else pain you? Is it… Is it because I hurt you? Forgive me… Forgive me, my dearest love… I… I will make sure this will not happen again…”  
Her eyes widened in fear, fear of hurting Jenny again, Vastra got up and grabbed her nail clipper, chopping of her claws. It hurt her, it felt like she was cutting her fingertips themselves, but she refused to let them grow when Jenny was the one having to suffer the most. When she was risking hurting her beloved Jenny again.  
With every claw she shortened, she winced in pain and hissed quietly, glancing over at Jenny as if she were reminding herself why she was doing this.

After she had finished, she went to wash her hands, they were shaking in pain now. Vastra hissed again at her now cut short claws and slid back under the blanket and wrapped her hands around Jenny.  
“Now I will never hurt you again, dearest… Never again… I promise… I promise…”  
She huffed and placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead and wiggled close to the warm body of her wife.  
“Love, you are so scared… What are you scared of, my dearest? I wish you would just tell me… But I will be here… I will protect you against all evil, my Jenny… No harm will come to you… Perhaps… I can help you with a story… You like stories, don’t you?”  
Vastra paused to wait for an answer, silence filled the room and seemed to grow bigger and bigger. Quietly Vastra raised her voice again, her voice had often seemed to calm Jenny, it did in the carriage on their ride back.  
“Once upon a time… That’s how your fairy tale books begin, right, love? Once upon a time, a beautiful young woman met a warrior… The warrior was tall and fair, but quite extraordinary… She looked nothing like the apes around them, instead she had green scales… Different shades of green, all beautiful to the young woman… That was because the warrior was from the dawn of time… As they first met, the young woman…”  
Vastra told their story on and on, often placed soft kisses on her wife’s head, played with her hair, held her hand, until she as well fell asleep, Jenny resting in her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were hints at this throughout the last chapters, actually. I don't know if you could spot all of them... XD
> 
> As you can see, the title is just a line from the fic because I am uncreative as hell when it comes to titles. I don't know why I felt the need to put them in the first place... Well, perhaps I learned something for my future fics.
> 
> Also, I might have gotten the idea with Vastra's claws when reading Spork_Art's fanfic...


	9. Sleeping Jenny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny is still asleep and Vastra worries about her. Also, Strax is back home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is a reference to "Sleeping Beauty", I am veeery creative with titles... As you can see XD

Loud shouting made the Silurian wake up. Immediately she flustered her eyes open, clung to her wife and turned her head to spot a possible attacker. Her tongue was flickering dangerously, ready to knock out whoever was the source of the noise.  
It took her a few moments to realize that they were alone in the room, the fire only a pile of barely glowing embers, Jenny still resting, curled up next to Vastra.  
“No attacker…”  
Vastra spoke out and looked down at her love, a concerned smile on her lips when she noticed the look of despair on Jenny’s face. Her cold hand brushed through her hair as she sat up, Jenny still close to her.  
“My love, what is it that frightens you? What is haunting your lovely soul? There is only the two of us here, my dearest… No one that means you harm, my Jenny… Just us…”

Another loud shout made her shrug, and finally she realized what had been the reason for her waking up. Or rather: Who.  
“Strax.”  
She growled, then turned to Jenny again. One hand was now resting on the woman’s cheek. The lizard wiped away a small tear trying to make its way down Jenny’s face.  
“Strax is here as well… There’s no need to shed tears, my love… I will protect you from anyone who means you harm… Yes, my dear? Are you exhausted from the interrogations, Jenny, my love? You can rest… We shall take tomorrow off, then. For you to rest, so you won’t need to be scared any longer…”  
Vastra’s sweet comforting words went on and on, every now and then she let out a small wincing. It sounded almost like crying…  
Seeing Jenny this desperate hurt Vastra, she wished to rid the world of anything that meant her wife harm, wanted to protect her for the rest of both their lives.

“Madame?? Madame! Are you naked or in an intimate situation with the boy? Or can I come in?”  
Vastra shrugged again as the Sontaran knocked at their door. Quickly she made sure Jenny’s body was mostly covered up, then she bid Strax inside.  
“Come in, Strax.”  
The door opened and he came in, glancing over at the low fire, and then at Vastra.  
“Your face is yellow.”  
“Is it?”  
Vastra hadn’t noticed just how cold it was in the room. She had been cuddled up in her blankets together with Jenny who was emitting enough heat to keep her warm at night.  
“Yes. Your apparatus seems to be slowed down. I will lit up the fire again and will go and prepare some tea, as the boy seems to have vanished… Hmm… Where’s he gone to this time?”  
“Jenny is here, Strax… She’s sleeping…”  
Vastra mumbled and gently caressed Jenny’s cheek with her fingers again, only now realizing Strax indeed was right, her scales had gone a pale green.

“Ah, alright! We can wake Miss Jenny and she can do her duties as a maid!”  
“Strax!”  
Vastra shouted and glared at him, a low growl escaped her as she pulled her wife even closer.  
“Jenny is tired and needs rest… Please, let her… It would be great help if you lit the fire and cooked something for dinner. I am sure Jenny will be hungry when she wakes up…”  
“Can eat some biscuits…”  
“Now, now, Strax. That’s not how we talk in this house. You as butler should express yourself correctly…”  
“Alriiight…”  
He grunted and crossed his arms. His small eyes seemed to be unable to really see in the darkness of the room.  
“Should I lit the fire for you, then?”  
Yes, please… If you would be so kind, Strax…”

Vastra mumbled and lay back down, pulling Jenny close to her. The look of despair hadn’t faded from Jenny’s face. It really concerned the Silurian that her wife was looking so anxious…  
Her scaled hand gently stroked over the woman’s features, her soft lips, her warm cheeks, her nose, until the lizard decided Jenny’s hair was by far the most relaxing to play with.  
In her mind she was begging for Jenny to wake up, to smile at her as usual, to kiss her and hold her close. Seeing her so frightened startled the Silurian. Though she might seem like a strong warrior (which she indeed was), she was vulnerable when it came to Jenny.  
She let out a small sigh as she glanced over at Strax who was kneeling in front of the fire and carefully lit it again. A smile curled her lips. As rough and aggressive as he might seem sometimes, He was a dear friend and knew more about human anatomy and illnesses than Vastra did, even after she had studied all the books available on that topic in Victorian times.

“Strax? Do you have your medical scanner with you?”  
Vastra’s voice sounded anxious, a little croaky as well, almost as if she had cried for hours. She might have, could have been in her sleep. The only thing she knew was that she was scared for what might be on Jenny’s mind, what she feared this much.  
“Yes, madame. Of course. What is it?”  
“Please take a look at Jenny, see if there’s anything wrong with her… I’m scared for her…”  
Strax got up and came over, now standing next to her.  
“You will have to let go of the human female so I can check her completely…”  
With a hiss Vastra pulled back and let go of Jenny, one of her hands shakingly playing with a few of Jenny’s locks. Although Jenny did look scared before, now that the Silurian let go of her, her face seemed even more desperate, a few tears ran over Jenny’s cheeks, out of her closed eyes.

Strax stood next to the bed and held his scanner over Jenny’s body. Slowly he moved it up from her feet to her head. Vastra was just anxiously sitting there, one hand gripping Jenny’s hair in an attempt to comfort herself. Her blue eyes glanced from Jenny to Strax and back again, a low growl escaped her after a few minutes.  
“Are you not finished yet??”  
She snapped and hissed at Strax who looked up at her and shook his head.  
“It takes time. Now quiet, reptile…”  
With another growl Vastra lay back down and wrapped herself in a blanket, her hand still stroking Jenny’s hair. The Silurian’s eyes were longingly staring at her wife, she wanted to hold her close and protect her, against whatever might scare her.

“I cannot make out anything different with the boy.”  
“That has to be wrong! Look at her! She’s scared! Do it again! Do it again and help her! Or I swear to the goddess, I will kill you! Make her wake up!”  
Vastra was sitting up straight now, her eyes dangerously glowing. She had ripped the medical scanner out of Strax’ hand to do it herself, but as she noticed how much her hands were shaking, her shoulders sunk, and she placed the scanner down on the bed. Slowly she reached out for Jenny and wrapped her arms around her, one of her hands gently stroking the young woman’s face.  
“My love… Please, wake up… I don’t want you to be scared… I want you to be happy…”  
“The medical scanner could not detect anything. She is just sleeping. She needs rest. And you need rest, too.”  
“No! I will not sleep until I know Jenny is fine!”  
Vastra stubbornly replied and buried her face in Jenny’s shoulder. She could feel Jenny’s heartbeat, feel her breaths against her body. Although being incredibly worried about her, knowing Jenny was sleeping calmed her, at least a little.  
“Madame… I… I don’t think it will help Jenny rest if you hold her like this… Your arms are malfunctioning and could do more harm than good…”  
With a hiss Vastra let go of Jenny and glared at Strax, seconds later she calmed down.  
“I am sorry, Strax… You are right. Jenny should rest… But… But she… She is so scared…”  
“I cannot make out the reason for this, but I am sure when she is awake again, she will tell you.”  
Strax placed his three-fingered hand on Vastra’s shoulder and gently shook her, a kind smile on his face. It was an odd picture, a Sontaran trying to comfort a Silurian. However, it seemed to work. Vastra nodded and got out of bed, giving Strax a sad smile.  
“Could you… Prepare dinner for her? I need some time in my garden… Thinking…”  
“Of course, Madame. I will look after Jenny and try not to blow her up.”

Strax was joking, trying to lighten up the mood, but Vastra didn’t take it as a joke and violently shoved him against the wall.  
“If you harm her in any way, we will see how you taste boiled…”  
With a growl she let her tongue flicker and glowered at Strax, her eyes dark and dangerous.  
“Just a joke, Madame! Just a joke! I would never hurt Miss Jenny! Not on purpose, at least…”  
“Better hope you don’t… Because trust me, you don’t want to find out what will happen to you otherwise…”  
Vastra let go of him and pulled her hand back. Her scales turned darker; she was ashamed for threatening Strax even though he was being so nice and offered to watch over her wife while she tried calming down.  
“I understand, Madame. You love Miss Jenny a lot. I will watch over her. I swear by my home planet Sontar!”  
Strax stood tall and gave the lizard another encouraging smile, then he wrapped his arms around her and wiggled around a little.  
“Am I doing this right? Is this increasing your comfort, Madame?”  
The Silurian let out a chuckle and patted his big head. Even though she probably would never admit it to anyone, this helped her a lot, not being the only one to wake over Jenny. Strax would help her and hold her to the line when she would do something stupid like planning not to sleep for days. He had managed to bring her back to the ground in the matter of minutes, something she was thankful for. Her fear of losing Jenny had taken over her whole body, even made her blind to her own needs. With a glance at her terribly cut claws she shook her head.  
What was she thinking, chopping them so short? They still hurt… She’d talk to Jenny about this, as soon as she was awake. Oh, Jenny would be mad, she knew that. She’d curse at Vastra and call her stupid for what she did. But… Vastra needed that, more than anything. She didn’t care what Jenny would say, she just wanted her to wake.

“Madame. Your heartbeat sped up rapidly. Breathe calm… Everything will be fine. Or maybe not. But you panicking does not help Miss Jenny.”  
Vastra stared at the wall with widened eyes, holding her breath. Strax had brought her back to earth once again.  
“Yes… Yes… My mind just…”  
She glanced over at Jenny and gritted the fabric of Strax’ clothes.  
“You are concerned for Miss Jenny’s wellbeing. Yes. I can see that. You said you wanted dinner for her. Come, we can cook together.”  
“I… I need some time alone…”  
“Should I perhaps check your body for any unusual signs? I might be able to ease your worries with just a tiiiny operation in your brain…”  
Vastra freed herself from his embrace and sternly shook her head.  
“Strax, no. Now go cook dinner for Jenny! I will be in the conservatory... And please, look after Jenny later… Yes? And when she’s awake, you immediately tell me! Understood?”  
“Yes, Madame…”  
Strax answered, nodded, and headed downstairs.

Vastra went over to Jenny, made sure she was kept warm by the blankets, she placed a soft kiss on Jenny’s forehead.  
“Rest well, my dearest… And wake soon…”  
With one last glance back, Vastra left the room and headed to her conservatory, hoping she’d be able to calm down a little there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strax had a wonderful time with little Billy, by the way. But that's a story for another chapter^^


	10. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny is finally waking up again, but she's terrified by nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what kind of power possessed me to write a whole chapter in one day... Anyways, enjoy!

“Ah, Madame! There you are! I was just up to look after Jenny…”  
“Is she awake?? Why didn’t you tell me earlier!?”  
“She is not. She is still sleeping. I just wanted to inform you that she is fine. And while her face still looks weird, she has steady breath, and her heartbeat is at a normal rate.”  
Vastra’s shoulders sunk and she looked to the ground. It’s been hours since she left Jenny on her own, not daring to check for her. The Silurian feared to be overwhelmed by her fear again, hurting her wife in a desperate attempt of waking her up.  
“She’s still asleep?”  
“Yes. Sleeping like a little child. Anyways, I will go finish dinner for Miss Jenny now. You can try waking her up, if you like.”  
Strax reached up and patted Vastra’s shoulder, giving her an uplifting smile.  
“Everything will be fine in the end. Don’t worry, Madame.”  
“Yes… Thank you, Strax…”

Quickly the lizard got into the kitchen, there she saw the tray of cold tea she left earlier. With a sigh she warmed it up again, the fire warming her as well, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.  
Warm tea would probably be good for both of them now, Vastra thought and got up again, carrying the tray upstairs to her wife.

Quietly she opened the door and got in, placing the tray down next to the bed. With a tilt of her head she went to Jenny’s side of the bed and sat down there, carefully caressing the young woman’s cheek.  
“Jenny, my love? It’s time to wake up…”  
Vastra’s voice was nothing more than a faint whisper, and with every second Jenny didn’t open her eyes, her panic was growing more and more, her breath sped up and she started shaking her wife.  
“Jenny… Jenny, wake up! Wake up! My dearest, why don’t you just wake up??”  
She started snivelling and pulled Jenny close, buried her face in Jenny’s chest. Her scaled hands were scratching over Jenny’s naked back, she would’ve hurt her, hadn’t she cut her claws this short before.  
For a few minutes all you could hear from their room, was Vastra’s begging voice, sounding more and more like a sob every second.  
“Jenny… Please… Wake up… I… I don’t want you to leave me here… Come back, wake up…”

Suddenly, something moved against Vastra’s chest, and another voice started sobbing uncontrollably.  
“Jenny! Jenny! You are awake! Oh, I’m so glad! What… What is it, my sweetest love?? Why are you crying, my sweet? Hey… My dear, there’s no need to cry…”  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny whispered and clenched the back of Vastra’s dress, holding the Silurian close, crying into her chest. Vastra just sat there, holding her love close, trying to stop her crying, run her back up and down, rock her a little so she would calm down.  
“Shh… Shhh… My love… My sweet, sweet Jenny… Shh… Tell me… What makes you cry? What happened, my dearest love?”  
“I… I saw… I saw…”  
Her words turned into frantic sobs again, a scaled hand started caressing her cheek, wiping away the tears that didn’t stop coming out of her eyes.  
“Shhh… Don’t cry… I am here… See, love? I’m holding you close, I’m here… Sitting right in front of you… Should I… Should I hold you closer, my dear?”  
The young woman nodded and pulled Vastra closer, her arms tightly wrapped around the lizard, holding on like it were her life. Quietly Vastra stroked Jenny’s hair, humming little lullabies to calm her love down a bit.

“My love, do you want to tell me what was going on? I… I am worried for you, my sweetest heart…”  
The young woman’s body tensed up as she slowly lifted her head to look into Vastra’s eyes. Big dark brown orbs were staring up, widened in fear, and Jenny violently started biting her lip.  
“Jenny… Jenny, don’t… Don’t do that… Shh… Everything alright…”  
Vastra placed her hand on her wife’s cheek again, gently stroking her, Jenny’s jaw relaxed, and she stopped biting her lip. With a concerned smile Vastra leaned down and glanced at Jenny’s lips. She could feel Jenny’s heartbeat and breath speed up a little as she leaned even closer and finally placed her lips on Jenny’s.  
It was a soft and tender kiss. As both of them smiled a little after, Vastra decided to crawl under the blankets with Jenny. Even though the fire was burning, the Silurian preferred staying under the covers if she had the opportunity, so she lay down, Jenny still close to her, and pulled a blanket over both of their bodies that were so close you could almost mistake them for one.

“I… I saw you die…”  
Jenny eventually managed to whisper before her voice turned into a sob again, Vastra quietly caressing her back to soothe the young woman. She rocked her a little and hummed one of Jenny’s favourite lullabies, placed soft kisses on Jenny’s forehead.  
“Shhh… I’m fine… I’m here… See? I’m not gone, I’m here and I always will be…”  
“But… But it… It felt so real… I…”  
Jenny went quiet and took a few deep breaths, Vastra’s scent, the scent of home and love, managed to calm her down, and she loosened her grip around the Silurian.  
“Jenny?”  
Vastra asked after some time, two brown eyes slowly looked up at her, a relieved smile curled the lizard’s lips.  
“Did you have a nightmare, my love?”  
Again, Jenny bit her lip and shook her head. Vastra placed her fingers on Jenny’s chin and stroked over her wife’s skin. She was worried about Jenny, about her being so incredibly scared.  
“No nightmare? What was it, then, my sweet love?”  
“I… I saw you die…”  
She muttered again and lifted her head, gazing into Vastra’s eyes. One of her hands she placed against Vastra’s cheek, tracing over those familiar scales, as if she couldn’t quite believe all this was real. Vastra leaned into the touch and purred a little, knowing it would comfort Jenny to hear those familiar sounds.  
“I am very much alive… See? It was nothing more than a dream…”  
“But…”  
Jenny’s hand suddenly cramped, Vastra tilted her head and ran one of her hands through Jenny’s hair.  
“But?”  
“It was so real… I… I cou’dn’t save yer! Or Strax! An’… An’ then… It din’t stop! It din’t stop!”  
Her voice was shrill again, a look of panic was resting on her face as she clung onto Vastra, fearing she could fade away any second. Helplessly she sobbed into her wife’s chest, her whole body trembling like a leaf. Quietly Vastra held her close, stroked her and mumbled sweet words into Jenny’s ear, pet names, confessions of words, any other words of comfort she could think of.  
“Shh… Sweetest Jenny, my dear love… You are my heart… My soul… I love you… You are my sun, my moon, and my stars… I will not let anything happen to you… And I will not die… I will stay forever… Yes? Forever… My dearest Jenny… Don’t cry, don’t shake, don’t be scared… I am here… And I always will be… Shhh…”  
Slowly she could feel the young human calm down, her sobs became fewer, her body was only shaking occasionally. The only thing not wanting to end were the tears running down her cheeks. In vain Vastra tried wiping them away, new ones came out of Jenny’s eyes.  
“Calm, my dearest Jenny… No need to cry… I’ll be here, protecting you against all evil that may come… My dearest Jenny, I love you… More than anything… Shhh…”  
Then, Vastra started humming melodies, some of Jenny’s favourite songs, and she could feel her relax into the safe embrace the lizard was holding Jenny in. They lay there for some time, cuddling, Vastra caressing her wife’s head lovingly, whispering more and more kind words to ease Jenny’s fear.  
Vastra was scared herself, very scared… But spending a little time in the conservatory, and talking to Strax earlier had calmed her down at least a little. She knew she had to be strong now, to protect Jenny… Later, when Jenny was alright, it was Vastra’s turn to be scared and need love, affection and reassuring that everything was fine. It didn’t help if both of them panicked at the same time, Vastra knew that. The image of that moment in the cab, where she wasn’t able to control herself, wasn’t able to keep cool, popped up in her head. Jenny’s blood on her hands because she couldn’t keep calm. She never wanted to hurt Jenny ever again.  
Quietly she gazed down on her claws which were playing with Jenny’s hair, they looked terrible. But she couldn’t hurt Jenny with them and that was all she cared about right now.  
Jenny must be protected; Jenny must be kept safe.  
That was Vastra’s motto, her way of living. Her wife was her first priority. Even now, Vastra wanted nothing more than to shout at Jenny to finally tell her what was going on, why she was so scared, what she could do to help. Shouting wouldn’t help, cuddles and affection would.  
After a few deep breaths Vastra placed another loving kiss on Jenny’s cheek and hummed a little more, keeping her voice as calm and collected as always, but with so much tenderness and fondness in it, it made Jenny relax into her arms.

“Jenny… Do you want to tell me about it, my sweet? Talking will help…”  
The young woman tiredly blinked a few times and nodded, still seeming very frightened, as if this all were just a dream and she her nightmares were indeed reality. Jenny’s eyes found Vastra’s, looking into the bright blue concerned eyes gave Jenny a feeling of safety, Vastra was her safety, her home, her world.  
“I… Where… Do I start?”  
“At the beginning, I would suggest, my dearest heart…”  
Vastra whispered and placed a soft kiss on Jenny’s forehead, giving her an encouraging smile afterwards. Jenny nodded and took a few deep breaths, Vastra’s scent soothed her.  
“We… Were on a case… An’… An’ then… A fight… Strong… A strong woman with a big sword… C… Captur’d me ‘nd… She… She killed Strax… ‘e was… layin’ there, on the ground, bleedin’… Yer were a bit away, fightin’ against two blokes… Yer din’t realize she was going to-…”  
She sobbed and shakingly reached out for Vastra’s face, pulling her close and kissing her. Vastra could taste salty hot tears, she tried wiping Jenny’s tears again and again, nonetheless, they didn’t stop. Even while Vastra was trying to rid her wife’s face of all the tears, she didn’t break the kiss. It was what helped Jenny most right now, and as Vastra realized her intention of wiping all the tears off Jenny’s face was nearly impossible, she buried her scaled hands in Jenny’s long hair and pulled her a little closer.

“Jenny… Shhh… I’m here… It was just a nightmare…”  
“But… But then… She… She ‘urt yer! She killed yer! In front of me! She made me watch an’… An’… I couldn’t save yer! I… It ‘urt… Me ‘eart ‘urt so much… Then she let me free an’ I ran to yer… An’… An’…”  
Jenny was sobbing again, her hands shaking and desperately clinging onto Vastra. She was crying for help, for Vastra to stay with her, to not leave her behind.  
It broke Vastra’s heart seeing and hearing her love like this, she could feel her panic growing and tried pushing it down. As gentle as she could she shook Jenny a little and tried looking her into the eyes.  
“My love… My love! Jenny! Focus on me! Please, look at me… Look at me… Look into my eyes and focus… No harm will come to you… Or to me… You are alright… It was just a nightmare… Shhh… Calm down, my heart…”  
Jenny’s brown eyes anxiously stared into Vastra’s, the fire in Jenny’s eyes had been replaced with sheer dread, something the Silurian wanted to change as quickly as possible. When their eyes met, Vastra placed one hand on Jenny’s cheek, with the other she held the trembling woman close to her. Slowly she started fondling her cheek and took deep breaths.  
“My dearest love… Breathe… With me… Breathe in, breathe out… Calm down, my sweet… I am here… I will help, I will! I am… I am helping… Trying to… I will stay forever… I told you, right, my Jenny?”  
Jenny’s gaze was locked with Vastra’s. The bright blue orbs reflecting the flickering fire calmed her down a little, reassuring her Vastra would indeed stay, would never leave, meant every single word coming out of her mouth.

“Vastra… ‘m scared…”  
“I know… I know, my love… But there’s no need to be frightened… I am here… And I always will stay with you… I told you… Didn’t I, my wonderful Jenny?”  
Jenny nodded, still staring into Vastra’s eyes, they helped her calm down a lot. The wonderful blue eyes sitting in a green scaled face… Slowly Jenny brought up her hand to Vastra’s cheek and touched the cool scales with her fingertips, followed invisible lines she was tracing. A little smile curled her lips as she did so.  
The Silurian started quietly purring at the sensation of Jenny’s warm but still trembling fingers tracing her scales and leaned into the touch. She kept her eyes open, knowing they gave Jenny security.  
Her fear was trying to overwhelm her, now that Jenny was feeling a little better, but Vastra pushed it down and ran her hand through Jenny’s hair again to calm herself down as well.

“Would you… Like some tea, my sweet?”  
Vastra asked and tried getting up, only to desperately be pulled back into an embrace by Jenny.  
“Don’t leave me! Please…”  
Seeing the young human so desperate, Vastra hugged her close and gave her a soft smile.  
“My sweet Jenny… Dearest love… Are your nightmares haunting you so much? I will stay… See? I will not leave…”  
Quietly she placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead and wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks again. With both her arms wrapped around Jenny, one of them stroking her head gently, Vastra sat there and hummed soothing lullabies to her wife who seemed to calm down again.  
“Vastra… I… I have to-…”  
She stopped and violently shook her head. The voice from back then, when she was forced to fall asleep, yelled at her to stay quiet, told her she’d fall asleep right now if she told anyone. Jenny bit her lip and held her head with both her hands, tried to get rid of the voice.  
“G… Get out…”  
She whispered and Vastra pulled back with a hiss, looking Jenny up and down.  
“Jenny? Jenny! What is it? My love, talk to me!”  
Again, Vastra was close to panicking, desperately she pushed her own fears aside and gently placed her hand on Jenny’s chin, looking at her wife’s face closer.  
“Jenny?”  
“V… Vastra…”  
She pressed and bit her lip again.  
“I won’t tell her! I won’t!”  
Jenny shouted in her mind, desperately trying to make the voice shut up. And it worked, as she agreed to keeping quiet, the voice went quiet, leaving her alone.  
“Jenny! What is it, tell me, my dear! I…”  
She went quiet. No, she couldn’t give her fear this opportunity to take over. Jenny was not feeling alright at all, Vastra had to keep herself together and help her.  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny looked up and pressed her lips on the lizard’s, relaxing into the kiss. Her hands locked in Vastra’s neck while Vastra’s hands were resting on Jenny’s back, holding her close. At every touch of her cool fingers she could feel the young woman shiver and gave Jenny a soft smile.

“Perhaps we should get dressed, my love… Strax should have prepared you dinner… I’m sure you are hungry, my Jenny…”  
“Hmhm… Yes… Actually… I am… Thank yer… I… I think… I feel better now…”  
“Oh, my dearest Jenny… I hope you do… I don’t want you to be frightened… I…”  
She lowered her gaze and shook her head; she placed another kiss on Jenny’s forehead.  
“Nevermind… I’m here… In this room with you… No one else is here, no one can hurt you, sweet Jenny… Now… Let’s get you dressed, love…”  
Without even thinking about it Vastra took Jenny’s hand, placed a few soft kisses on the knuckles of her hand and swiftly helped her up from the bed; she walked over to the closet. Jenny followed after her, a blanket wrapped around her body. While Vastra was looking through the dresses, Jenny hugged her from behind and listened to the Silurian’s strong heartbeat.  
“My love… Here…”  
Vastra mumbled and got out a beautiful simple white dress. It wasn’t a maid’s dress, definitely not. Although it being a casual gown, Jenny knew it was one of Vastra’s, which she gladly accepted. In one movement the Silurian turned round, Jenny let the blanket fall to the ground and lifted her hands up into the air. Vastra pulled the dress down and buttoned it on the back before gently pulling Jenny’s hair out and tightening it completely.  
It was slightly too big for Jenny, her being shorter than Vastra, but neither of them really minded.  
Jenny brought her hand up, took in the scent of the fabric. Home. Vastra. A little shy smile lay on her lips as she rubbed her eye a little. Then she wrapped her arms around Vastra and cuddled into her chest.  
She hadn’t forgotten her nightmares, it was just that Vastra helped her a lot, and after she had told this voice she wouldn’t talk to anyone about her seeing the sand and being infected with this disease, it seemed to leave her alone.  
The sand, however, hadn’t left. As she rubbed her eye, a bit of it trickled to the ground. Immediately Jenny looked back up, only to find Vastra’s head tilted and her eyes full of worry.  
“Jenny…”  
“’m fine… Jus’… I really love yer dress… Look…”  
She mumbled and lifted one of her arms, the sleeve covered her hand almost completely.  
Vastra couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, even though she was still feeling incredibly anxious about her wife.  
“Oh, my dear love… You’re so adorable… Come here…”  
Vastra leaned down a little and gave Jenny a loving kiss before interlocking her fingers with Jenny’s.  
“We should get going… Otherwise Strax might get some ideas of blowing something up…”  
She mumbled and glanced over at the tray of tea. With a sigh she picked it up with only one hand as her other was occupied with holding on to Jenny.  
“Ya… ‘m feelin’ quite hungry… Let’s see wot Strax cooked and if t’s edible…”  
“I think it will be, he was concerned about you as well, you know…”  
Vastra admitted and glanced at Jenny who had wrapped both of her arms around Vastra’s now. With a smile the lizard slowly started walking over to the door, waiting for Jenny to open it as her hands were both preoccupied.  
Together, still holding hands, they headed downstairs, cautiously, as neither of them wanted their good china in shards, to the dining room where Strax was waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be something nicer and more lighthearted! I promise!


	11. Dinner at Paternoster Row

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny is having dinner and Strax tells her about his evening with Billy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After what feels like an eternity to me, a new chapter! My eye hurt real bad for three days and I can't even remember what I did in that time...  
> Anyways, this is probably the least angsty chapter from now till the end of this fic... I hope you enjoy it!

“Strax? Is dinner ready?”  
Vastra asked as she stepped into the dining room with Jenny by her side, holding her hand tight to make her feel safer. Jenny’s warm hand lightly squeezed Vastra’s and she gave her a thankful smile.  
Carefully Vastra placed the tray with their cups down on the dining table, and when the Sontaran warrior didn’t respond, the lizard let out a low growl. Just as she wanted to walk into the kitchen, Jenny’s grip tightened. Vastra turned her head a little and gave Jenny an encouraging smile.  
“Don’ leave…”  
She whispered and clung to Vastra’s arm, held her as close as she could. The Silurian lifted her free hand and gently stroked through Jenny’s hair, slowly, to comfort her, and placed a kiss on her forehead.  
“I won’t, my dearest… I won’t… Should we wait for Strax to come in with dinner, love? Or should we see if we can be any help in the kitchen?”  
With a slight wiggle of her head, Jenny glanced sideways and acted as if it was a really hard choice to make. Then, a smile curled her lips as she placed a kiss on Vastra’s nose.  
“Per’aps we could wait ‘ere an’… An’ ‘ave sum fun?”  
Vastra was glad Jenny was feeling at least a little better. Well, she didn’t cry anymore and even though from time to time her eyes glanced through the room like she was scared some monster could emerge from the shadows, Jenny seemed to have calmed down.  
It made Vastra feel better, too, seeing her wife smile again, and being awake. She wouldn’t have thought it could make her so uncomfortable watching Jenny sleep, it never did before, at night when Jenny was already in bed and Vastra came to her, it comforted her seeing the woman she loved sleeping calmly next to her.

“Ah! Miss Jenny! You are finally awake! Sit down, I made you food!”  
Strax exclaimed after he stepped into the room with a plate in his hands.  
“Wot is that?”  
Jenny asked and pointed at it, one of her eyebrows raised. The Sontaran glowered at her and set the plate down on the table.  
“This is your food! I used the best human cook book I could find to make this! Now eat, boy.”  
“A’right… No need to get all cocky, Strax…”  
Without letting go of Vastra’s hand she walked over to the dining table and sat down, looking down at the plate. Slowly she rubbed her eye and examined what Strax had cooked her.  
“Tis sum veggies, hm? An‘ a lill meat as well… Smells delicious… Did yer really cook that yerself? I din’t know yer could cook.”  
“I am a Sontaran Warrior and nurse! And I hold the title ‘butler’ in this house! Of course I can cook! I used some of those uh… powders we have in the kitchen. I hope you like it, boy. Maybe it will colour your face a little, you are as white as your bed sheets.”  
“Strax…”  
Vastra hissed and glowered at him, her hand still holding Jenny’s tight, with no intention of letting go of it.  
“She iiiis… Anyway, do you feel better now, Miss Jenny? Madame and I were concerned for your wellbeing while you were asleep. Madame even-…”  
“And that’s enough stories about this, Strax! Don’t you want to tell Jenny how your evening with Billy went?”  
With dark green scales she now took a seat right next to Jenny and moved the chair close so she could have her love near her the whole time. While she was glad Jenny was indeed feeling better now, she was still concerned as to what exactly happened.  
Surely, seeing someone she loved die would mess her up, but this much? And why couldn’t Jenny just wake up again? Vastra often had nightmares herself, especially right after she woke up in this time. The pictures of her sisters being killed haunted her a long time, always made her anger and hatred towards apes blaze up again, leading to her killing more and more.  
Even after she had met the Doctor, those memories lingered with her seemingly forever. And only more followed. Being captured, ridiculed, in chains…  
Her body tensed at that thought and her breath speeded up, the kind blue eyes full of fear.

“Vastra? Me dear?”  
Jenny quietly asked and brought one of her hands up to cup the Silurian’s face. Until now she hadn’t eaten a single bite; Vastra’s change of mood alarmed her.  
“I’m fine!”  
The Silurian hissed and turned her face away. She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want Jenny to worry about her now. Not while it was still unclear what exactly happened to Jenny before.  
Slowly Jenny backed away a little, holding Vastra’s hand tighter, as if she were scared of letting go. As if Vastra would fade into nothing if she let go of her hand now.  
“Vastra…”  
She whispered again and gazed down at their hands. Then, she looked back up with a smile.  
“t’s a’right… Yer don’ ‘ave to be scared… I’m ‘ere…”  
“Madame, are you in need of tea? I heard that it might help you relax.”  
Vastra glanced over at him and nodded, then she turned to face Jenny. Just seeing her immediately calmed her down. All those lovely features… The little mole above Jenny’s lip, her dark brown eyes, the adorable way one of her eyebrows was raised just the slightest bit whenever the woman smiled…  
Her breath and heartbeat slowed to a normal rate and the fear in her eyes vanished.  
“Thank you…”  
She mumbled and wrapped her arm around Jenny to hold her close. Both of them relaxed into the embrace; Jenny rested her head against Vastra’s shoulder while the lizard let out a soft purr and placed her cool cheek on top of Jenny’s head. With closed eyes she took in Jenny’s scent and let out a sigh of contentment.  
Only when Jenny moved a little and brought her hand up to her eye to rub it, Vastra lifted her head and glanced down worriedly.  
“My love?”  
“Hm? Yeah, me darlin’?”  
Vastra blushed and a satisfied grin curled Jenny’s lips. A loud harumph of Strax made them both look at him, Jenny had grabbed Vastra’s hand again, holding onto her as tight as she did before.  
“Your tea, madame, boy.”  
He held two teacups in his hands, each filled with hot tea. With a nod Vastra took the first and placed them in front of Jenny, then took her own.  
“Thank you, Strax.”  
“You are welcome, Madame.”  
The Sontaran’s little eyes now narrowed and stared at Jenny who rubbed her eye and thanked him as well.

“Now, my dear, eat a little… I’m sure it will help you feel better, love…”  
Jenny nodded and took the fork in her hand. Carefully she put some of Strax’ creation on her fork and ate it. Slowly chewing, she nodded and gave Strax a smile, then she swallowed.  
“t’s good, Strax. ‘onestly, yer could start cookin’ all the food fer Paternoster Row… That way yer wouldn’t be as bored an’ I can ‘ave a lill more free time…”  
“Absolutely not! Cooking is unnecessary. It is an inefficient way of regaining energy!”  
Vastra rolled her eyes and growled, her fingers interlocking with Jenny’s under the table.  
“Strax, perhaps you should tell us about your evening with Billy. I am sure Jenny and I will enjoy your narrating…”  
Jenny nodded approvingly and continued on eating; they both waited for the Sontaran to begin.  
“Alright! My evening with the little human was very pleasant indeed! He taught me some of his earthling war games… We played a strategic game called hide and seek…”  
Strax went on to explain the rules of the game in great detail, something that made Jenny giggle, as she played the game sometimes as a child. She nearly choked on her food when Strax demonstrated how he would hide himself, clearly not fitting some of his hiding places. Even Vastra couldn’t cover an amused smile as Strax tried hiding behind one of the plant pots.  
“And I hid and hid, but Billy seems to be perfectly trained at this game! Every single time he was able to find me!”  
“Well, looks like yer gotta train a little an’ then play again… Hm?”  
Jenny joked and took a sip of tea, her eyes glancing over at the Sontaran who placed his hand on his chin and seemed to think about it.  
“This is a great idea, boy! As a Sontaran warrior I never hid! I confront my enemies and kill them, looking them into the eye… But new skills might be of use someday! Sontar-HA!”  
Excitedly the Sontaran warrior looked around, then his eyes fixed the chimney and Vastra’s face took a serious expression as she got up. Jenny’s grasp around Vastra’s hand tightened, and she looked up biting her lip, her eyes big in fear.  
“Strax, no. You will NOT climb up the chimney as a hiding place!”  
“But-“  
“I said NO!”  
A low growl sounded through the room, blue eyes glowered at Strax, and Vastra’s tongue flickered through the air as a warning. She would disable him if she had to… And Strax knew that just as well as Vastra herself.  
“Ma’am’s right… Yer could get ‘urt!”  
“That is the least of my concerns, my dear…”  
Vastra sighed and sat back down. She faced Jenny’s whose eyes were full of fear once again.  
“Jenny? My sweet? What are you scared of, dear?”  
“D… Don’ leave me… Please… I… I wanna ‘old yer ‘and…”  
With a slight smile the Silurian brought up her hand to Jenny’s face and caressed her cheek, gently stroking over it with her thumb.  
“I won’t, my love… Never… Now… Perhaps you should eat a little more and then we can make ourselves comfortable in front of the fire… Yes, my dear?”  
Jenny nodded and leaned into Vastra’s loving touch with closed eyes. Shortly after she flustered her eyes back open, frightened once again.  
“Jenny, my sweet love… What is it?”  
“t’s nothin’… Please don’ worry…”  
She responded and bit her lip, remembering what she had promised this creepy voice in her head earlier. No matter what, she couldn’t tell Vastra… It would scare her and Jenny didn’t want her wife to be scared. She could fight this on her own, somehow. Hiding it away and keeping Vastra happy, that’s what Jenny had in mind. No matter the consequences for herself…  
Vastra tilted her head and took a close look at Jenny, not able to figure out what was wrong. She would have loved to read Jenny’s mind, but she couldn’t. Jenny had put up a barrier, not letting Vastra in. She was hiding something, and Vastra would figure out what it was. Normally she could read Jenny’s mind whenever she wanted, not hiding her own away in return.  
But now? Jenny had forced up a barrier around her thoughts. Vastra taught her that she could do that, not thinking she’d ever really use this ability.  
“Are you sure, my love?”  
Two kind blue eyes gazed deep into Jenny’s eyes; worry written all over Vastra’s face.  
Again, Jenny nodded and gently placed her lips on Vastra’s, hoping to ease the Silurian’s worry with it.

“Madame, can I continue my story now? Or do you intend on smooching for a longer period of time now?”  
Immediately both of them shrugged and blushed, Jenny’s hand held Vastra’s firmly and her fingers started playing with the golden ring on the lizard’s finger.  
“Yer can continue, Strax…”  
“But please, sit down… Otherwise I’m scared your… enthusiasm will destroy something…”  
Vastra mumbled and took a sip of tea. Her fingers fiddled with the expensive china as she waited for Strax to speak.

“Yes, so, after we played military tactic games of earth, I introduced Billy to Sontaran activities…”  
“Oh no…”  
Vastra sighed and shook her head, Jenny glanced over at her with an amused smile and carefully nudged Vastra with her elbow.  
“Oi, let ‘im ‘ave fun… Sure ‘e din’t ‘urt anyone…“  
She took another sip of tea and looked down into her now empty cup, pouting a little.  
„Oh, I did not! Don’t worry! We only used laser grenades…”  
“Laser grenades!? Strax! What did I tell you about those!? And didn’t Jenny and I take them from you before we sent you to play with Billy?”  
Jenny could feel Vastra’s body tense up and placed her second hand on Vastra’s, slowly massaging it to calm Vastra down, and the lizard relaxed again and took a few deep breaths.  
“Go on, then… What did you play?”  
“We wanted to know who could throw grenades furthest… Well, of course we had to blow something up as well! Otherwise, where would be the fun of it?”  
“Strax, it is dangerous to play with weapons! You’re restricted from using grenades in Paternoster Row for a week!”  
“Madame! We were only-…”  
“Two weeks, Strax!”  
He grumbled something about ‘stupid lizard female’ and ‘blowing up in her sleep’, only receiving another deadly glare from Vastra.  
“He did not get hurt. And if he would have died, I would have taken him here to Paternoster Row for you to eat him for dinner, Madame!”  
Strax now announced with a big smile, visibly proud of his idea. The Silurian let out a low growl and took a deep breath.  
“How… kind…”  
She mumbled sarcastically and took a sip of tea, finding her own teacup empty. Knowing exactly she didn’t drink all of it, she glanced over at Jenny who gave her a guilty grin. The Silurian rolled her eyes and placed a soft kiss on Jenny’s cheek.  
“You are my greedy little ape, aren’t you, dearest?”  
“I ain’t little! An’ I ain’t no ape…”  
“I know, my love… Did you like my tea, my sweet?”  
She nodded and placed her lips against Vastra’s cool scales.  
“Yer need time in fron’ of a fire soon, eh? Yer seem to be cold…”  
“I can warm up Madame with my flame thrower!”  
Strax offered and already held said weapon in his hands, already pointing it at Vastra.  
“Strax! No!”  
She exclaimed and got up, ripping it from him with only one hand as Jenny was clinging onto her other hand.  
“I am glad you like my idea for collateral damage… Should Billy die the next time I play with him, I will take him here…”  
“Strax! I don’t eat innocent people! You know that!”  
"Really? What about that one man three weeks back in..."  
Vastra let out a growl and slammed her fist on the table, glaring at Strax.  
"Strax! Billy is a CHILD!”  
She shouted and took a few deep breaths, feeling Jenny’s warm hands trace over her scaled palm.  
“Would you like some more tea, my dearest?”  
Her voice was calm as she picked up the teapot and poured hot tea in both Jenny’s and her own cup. As soon as she had placed the pot back on the table, she raised her voice again, glowering at the Sontaran.  
“I don’t eat children!”  
Strax huffed and crossed his arms.  
"Oh, so children are an exception?"  
Vastra went quiet for a moment, then she sat back down and took Jenny’s hand in both of hers, interlocking her fingers with the warm human ones, smiling down at the pretty golden ring. With a soft voice she spoke, slowly shaking her head a little.  
"Billy is. He's a good child... Not like most apes… He’s better… Like Jenny… She’s… The best of humanity… And Billy is a good human as well.”  
A smile lay on her lips as she thought back to the little boy with brown eager eyes. Her smile vanished and she felt some sort of feeling towards the boy’s fear. Compassion, perhaps. Quickly she tried brushing over it and spoke up again.  
“Besides, did you look at him? I wouldn't be satisfied afterwards and would have to go and hunt some criminals at night..."  
“Yer wanna go out??”  
Jenny exclaimed and her hands started shaking. The thought of Vastra leaving made her sick, especially after her horrible dreams.  
“Yer can’t! Wot if… somethin’ ‘appens to yer… I…”  
“Jenny… Dearest… Look at me…”  
Brown eyes wandered back up and gazed into Vastra’s ocean blue eyes full of concern. Quickly Jenny tried forcing herself to smile at her wife who gently placed one hand against Jenny’s cheek.  
“Everything is fine, my love… Dearest… I am here… I won’t leave… I promised, remember, my sweet Jenny? Hey… You finished dinner; we could go sit in front of the fire now… Hm?”  
Jenny nodded slightly and placed her head against Vastra’s shoulder, her breath calming down slowly.  
Vastra gulped. She had once again seen her wife’s fear, not knowing what she could do to get rid of it besides trying to calm her with kind loving words.  
“Oh, Madame! The Billy human’s parental unit gave me this. Billy wrote down some of his dreams! They thought it might help with the case! And after the human fell asleep after playing, they told me to take it.”  
Strax got an old diary out and handed it to Vastra who took it and eyed the cover. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a diary of a child. She flipped a page open and skimmed it.  
“Case?”  
Vastra asked, suddenly remembering what she was supposed to do, investigating.  
“Jenny? Dear love? Would you… Mind if we went up to my study and… I look at the details of the case while we are cuddling?”  
“I… can ‘elp…”  
“You should rest… You look tired and maybe some sleep would do you good, love… I won’t leave, my Jenny…”  
“No… No sleep… Please…”  
Violently the young woman shook her head and her grip around Vastra’s hand tightened, both her hands trembling more and more. Immediately Vastra thought of a way to comfort her, deciding that loving words and careful strokes would be most effective.  
Her hand reached up to stroke Jenny’s head gently, and she raised her voice; it sounded soft and soothing.  
“My love… Nothing will happen to you… I will keep all harm from you, yes, dearest Jenny? No one can hurt you. Don’t be frightened, my Jenny… I will… Protect you… My… Queen… My… Goddess…”  
Vastra’s breath speeded up a little as she gazed deep into Jenny’s eyes, her lips getting all dry, she leaned closer, her eyes slowly closing. Full warm lips met hers and both her arms immediately wrapped around Jenny and pulled her close.

Once again it was Strax who disturbed their kiss by a loud sigh.  
“Are you going to get involved in romantic activities now? Then I shall go recharge myself and polish my weapons…”  
“We’re heading upstairs now, Strax!”  
Vastra answered and got up, still holding Jenny close to her. With one more kiss placed on Jenny’s forehead, she took her hand and grabbed the diary with her free hand, and headed back upstairs, to her study room; Jenny quietly followed after her.

“Sit down, my love… I’m just collecting the files and I’ll be right with you…”  
“No… Don’ leave… Please, Vastra, please… Don’ leave me alone w-… Don’ leave me alone…”  
A tear tried forcing its way down her cheek, but Vastra quickly wiped it away and held Jenny close, caressing her back.  
“Alright, my dearest… Shh… Don’t cry… Sweet love, there’s no need to cry… I will not leave…”  
With one hand she blindly gathered what she assumed would be useful and got closer to the fire with Jenny. There she sat down, still holding her wife close, and placed Jenny’s notebook, the diary, and the newspaper articles in front of her.  
Before she even thought about looking at any of it, she turned to kiss Jenny and held her close, ran her hands through Jenny’s hair and gave her a soft smile.  
“Don’t be frightened, dearest Jenny… I will always stay… Come, rest in my lap, love…”  
Jenny rubbed her eyes and nodded, suddenly yawning. Her body started trembling and she clung onto Vastra, not wanting her to leave.  
“Yer… Stayin’… Yes??”  
She asked and anxiously stared up into Vastra’s eyes, already laying down in her lap.  
A scaled cool hand was placed against her cheek and gently stroked over it, the other hand running through her hair; Vastra’s eyes closed shortly and she nodded.  
“I will stay, my sweetest… I will wake over you and protect you from anything that might mean you harm, my dear Jenny… My queen… My heart… My soul…”  
Vastra’s loving words went on and on, her voice nothing more than a faint whisper.  
Accompanied by Vastra’s soft voice and the loud, demanding screaming in her head, Jenny’s eyes slowly closed, her hand had grabbed Vastra’s and held it close.  
“Please… No…”  
Jenny managed to whisper before falling asleep and her head tilting towards Vastra.

“Jenny?”  
Vastra asked into the quiet room just moments after, her face full of concern, Jenny’s words before falling asleep made her feel anxious.  
Gently she shook her wife; Jenny didn’t open her eyes anymore, but her breath was steady and calm, enough to quieten Vastra’s worries for now.  
“You are tired, aren’t you, my sweet? Perhaps we should move to the bed… So you can rest properly… I am sure I can do my work tomorrow as well…”  
She picked the information for the case up with one hand, suddenly noticing just how tight and desperate Jenny’s grasp around her hand was.  
“Jenny!? Dear, what is it!?”  
She dropped the files and picked up Jenny, quite an act with only one hand, and carried her back to their room, biting her lip anxiously.

There she lay Jenny on the bed and crawled under the blankets with her, holding her close.  
“Jenny… My love… What is it? Why… Why don’t you talk to me? I’m scared… I’m scared!”  
Her voice turned into a quiet sob, her head buried in Jenny’s chest, her hands clenching the back of Jenny’s dress. Now that Jenny didn’t notice (or so Vastra hoped), she was taken over by her fear.

After a few minutes of helpless sobbing into her wife’s chest, she was able to form rational thoughts again. Jenny’s dress was too tight, the Silurian noticed and loosened it so Jenny would sleep more comfortable.  
Then she sat up next to her and stroked over her cheek until her hand ended up playing with Jenny’s long hair again.  
“Sleep well, my love… I’m here, right next to you… I will hold you close, my Jenny… And protect you, my dearest…”


	12. Next morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went a little different than I wanted it to, but it still fits in well... I needed to put another scene with Strax in as well XD

In the morning, a big pile of blankets was resting in Vastra’s room, Vastra and her wife buried somewhere underneath. Just a bit of Jenny’s hair was not covered in blankets. As the Silurian fell asleep with Jenny in her arms without heating the fire before, she woke up in the middle of the night, trembling, only able to move slowly. Not wanting to leave Jenny for even a few minutes, she pulled blankets close and wrapped them around Jenny and herself.  
Now Vastra was cuddled up against Jenny’s chest, her arms wrapped around her wife’s waist, absorbing as much warmth as she could.  
Everything was quiet, the whole house resting…

It was quiet until loud shooting sounded through the house and forced Vastra to wake up. Quickly she sat up and looked around, her tongue flickering through the air; she let out a warning hiss.  
It took her a moment to realize the noise came from downstairs, Strax most possibly being the source of it. With a roll of her eyes she lay back down, realizing she wasn’t alone in bed. Jenny was resting next to her, one arm wrapped around Vastra’s waist, the other pressed against her own chest. Her breath was steady and calm, but she was biting her lip quite hard.  
Vastra wiggled close, trying to keep herself warm with Jenny’s help, and placed her hand on Jenny’s cheek. Gently she caressed her wife’s cheek and watched as her jaw relaxed a little.  
Still, it startled the lizard that her wife wasn’t up yet, and with a glance over at the clock her eyes went wide. Nearly 10 o’clock…  
Why wasn’t Jenny up yet? Something was wrong!  
Gently Vastra started shaking Jenny, whispering loving words, hoping she would wake up.  
“Jenny? My dear… It is time to get up, little sunshine… Jennyyy… Wake up…”  
Vastra mumbled and showered Jenny in loving kisses, holding her close.

Suddenly her eyes widened, her breath speeded up and she started shaking Jenny strenuously, anxiously yelling at her. Memories of the day before and how Jenny had behaved overcame her; they mixed up with Vastra’s constant fear of losing Jenny.  
“Jenny! Jenny! Wake up, my love! Wake up! Please… I need you… I need you by my side… My love…”  
Her voice failed and she buried her face in Jenny’s hair, both her hands shaking. Vastra held Jenny close and quietly started whining, whispering sweet words about her wife every now and then.

Only when two warm hands were placed on her back, she immediately went quiet and nuzzled into Jenny’s hair even more.  
“Jenny… You are awa-…”  
Jenny’s hands clenched the back of Vastra’s nightgown and a quiet sob escaped the young woman’s lips, then another followed, and another.  
“Jenny! My dearest love… What is it?? Why… Are you crying, my sweet? My Jenny… Dear… What’s wrong?”  
Pushing away her own fears, Vastra placed her hand on Jenny’s cheek and ridded it from tears; she gave her a sympathetic smile and tried looking her in the eyes.  
As soon as Vastra sat up, Jenny cuddled into Vastra’s chest and her cries got even louder and more desperate.  
“Jenny… My love… My sweet, sweet love… Shh… Don’t cry… Talk to me… What happened, my dearest Jenny?”  
“I… I saw…”  
Was all Jenny could stutter in between her sobs, Vastra bit her lip and ran one hand through the human’s hair lovingly.  
“Did you have a nightmare again, love?”  
“Vastra… ‘m scared…”  
She whispered and clung onto her lizard wife, her whole body trembling like crazy.  
Vastra grew more and more anxious, holding Jenny as close as she could, placing soft kisses all over Jenny’s forehead. Her hands were shaking, one of the only clues to how violently she tried hiding her fear.  
Quietly she started humming a song to soothe Jenny, and it worked. The young woman’s body stopped trembling after a little while, the only thing not wanting to stop were the tears streaming down her face, no matter how often Vastra wiped them away.

“My love… Sweet Jenny… Tell me… What happened?”  
“I… Vastra… Don’ leave…”  
Vastra shook her head reassuringly and placed her hand on Jenny’s cheek, waiting for the brown eyes to find hers. When they did the lizard’s lips curled into a relieved smile, yet her eyes were full of worry.  
“Dearest love… My Jenny, what happened? Did you… have bad dreams? Please, talk to me… Tell me what you dreamt, my love… I want to help…”  
Jenny’s head started twitching a little, she brought up one hand and rubbed her eye, a slight whimper escaped her lips.  
“DON’T YOU DAAARE! TELL AND YOU SHALL SLEEP FOR LONG!”  
The terrifying voice screamed in her mind, forcing her to keep quiet once again. Jenny’s eyes darted across the room, for a moment she imagined seeing some kind of shadow scampering through their bedroom.  
Immediately she clung onto Vastra and buried her face in her wife’s chest, both her hands shaking violently.  
“’m fine…”  
She whispered between two whines, and with that she promised the voice in her head to keep quiet once more.  
Vastra’s cold hands traced over Jenny’s cheek and stroked her head, trying to calm her love down and get her to talk.  
“Jenny… My sweetest… You are not fine… I can see that you are not, my love! Please, just tell me…”  
“’m fine!”  
“Jenny…”  
Vastra tried pulling back, confused as to why Jenny would suddenly snap at her, but the young woman in her arms immediately started sobbing again. The Silurian quickly wrapped her arms around Jenny again and held her close, letting out a low growl while her blue eyes scanned the room for anything that might cause Jenny harm.  
Of course she had noticed her wife’s look before, and she turned her head to spot what Jenny had been looking at.  
“My love… What is it, dearest?”  
Gently she wiped away the remaining tears in Jenny’s face and gave her a kind-hearted smile. Waiting for an answer she ran one of her hands through Jenny’s hair and wiggled her head a little.

Just as Jenny finally wanted to say something, something exploded downstairs. They both shrugged and Vastra got up with a loud growl, already storming towards the door.  
“Vastra…!”  
Jenny cried out and wanted to follow her.  
The Silurian froze, her hand already placed on the door knob, slowly turning round.  
“Jenny, stay in bed… My love, you’re not feeling well today… I will get you some tea and you can rest. Yes, my sweet?”  
Quickly the human hurdled through the room and put her arms around Vastra to hold her tight.  
Vastra could feel her wife shaking in fear while holding her close. She placed her head on top of Jenny’s and let out a quiet sigh. It hurt her seeing her wife this scared and helpless, she didn’t know what to do either, besides trying not to panic. What she had to do was stay strong for Jenny, help her.  
“My sweet Jenny… Tell me how I can help you, my heart… I… You are scared… And you need rest…”  
“No! D… Don’ make me go back to sleep, please… I… I don’ wanna rest… I… I wanna be useful…”  
Vastra gasped and placed her hand on Jenny’s chin, making her look up. Worried blue eyes gazed over all of Jenny’s features until they got caught by her dark brown eyes, so loving yet so frightened.

Slowly she went back to their bed, holding Jenny close to her. Vastra sat down at the edge of the bed together with her wife and held her close while still facing her.  
“My dearest love… My heart of hearts… Don’t say such things about yourself… You are not useless… Never, love… Hey… My dear…”  
Slowly she leaned closer and placed her lips on Jenny’s for a tender kiss. The lizard could feel her wife long for more, the warm hands ran down her back, and up again, touched Vastra’s crests and made her shiver with every touch.

With a soft purr Vastra pulled away and took Jenny’s hands in hers. Then she leaned down and placed soft kisses on Jenny’s knuckles.  
Jenny had calmed down during those kisses, a smile curling her lips. Both her cheeks reddened as Vastra’s scaled lips brushed over her fingers and palms with utmost tenderness.  
“Thank yer… Vastra… Me darlin’…”  
Vastra looked up, her scales turned darker and she smiled at Jenny.  
“You are welcome, my love… We should… Head downstairs and see what kind of mess Strax made this time, my dear…”  
“Ya, we should… Come on, then…”  
“Jenny… Are you… feeling better, dearest? You… were so scared before, my sweet… I… I was… concerned.”  
She finished, not admitting her own fear, at least not out loud. The way her hands clung to Jenny’s spoke out what Vastra tried to push down. Body and brain weren’t working together, her brain kept as rational as she could while her body tried expressing her desperate need for Jenny to be close and alright.  
“’m feelin’ better… I jus’… ‘ad tis ‘orrid nightmare of-…”  
Jenny’s voice broke and tears wanted to force their way out of Jenny’s eyes, her hands grasped Vastra’s tighter, her breath speeded up. The fear of losing Vastra consumed her, pictures of her love dead appeared before her eyes. She let out a cry of despair and searched for Vastra’s chest to cuddle against, her arms to hold her and protect her.

Once again, a loud voice sounded in Jenny’s head, telling her Vastra was gone forever.  
“No… NO!”  
She screamed at it, not noticing she spoke out loud. The pictures of something happening to Vastra, being wounded, falling, dying repeated in front of Jenny’s eyes. They reappeared no matter how hard Jenny tried to get rid of them.  
“Vastra… Vastra… ‘elp… Come back… Don’ leave… Please…”  
She managed to whisper between desperate sobs. Jenny couldn’t see anything, it was dark. She was alone, the only thing she could see was images of her worst nightmare, Vastra dying. Again and again she saw them, until they stopped and only one more appeared.  
Vastra lay there, in the mud, bleeding, one hand placed on her left arm, trying to stop the bleeding. Her eyes were slowly closing, her head tilted to one side and she let out one last breath.  
Jenny tried getting to her, placed her in her lap, begged her to wake up.  
Nothing.  
Vastra’s eyes stayed closed, Jenny’s heart shattered.  
She held Vastra close, crying and screaming into her chest.  
“DON’T EVER TRY TELLING ANYONE! OR I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!”  
The voice suddenly yelled.

Jenny flustered her eyes open and heard another shouting voice, one she knew very well, the voice she longed to hear now most.  
“Jenny! Jenny! What is it!? Tell me! Jenny! My love! What scares you!?”  
Vastra sat there, holding Jenny close, hands desperately running through her hair, scales pale of fright.  
Her blue eyes were full of fear, her breath was fast, way too fast.  
When Jenny finally looked up and her eyes met Vastra’s, the Silurian held her breath for a few seconds, then let out a relieved sigh.  
“Jenny… What just happened!? You… You were screaming for my help… Begged me… not to leave… What… What happened? Please… Tell me, my love…”  
“I… I can’t…”  
“Why not?? Please… I just want to help!”  
Jenny hugged Vastra tight, buried her face in her wife’s chest and sighed.  
She didn’t want to relive these nightmares, not one more time. She didn’t want to lose Vastra! This voice threatened to kill Vastra if Jenny didn’t keep quiet… If what she had to do was keep quiet about them to the world, she would gladly do so in order to have Vastra by her side.  
Somehow, they would sort this out, someday… If only she could give Vastra a hint… Tell her about the techniques used in this case without having to lose Vastra.  
“I…”  
She was at a loss of words. What could she tell her? How could she stop Vastra’s worries?  
Vastra placed her lips on Jenny’s forehead, inhaled her scent and held her close. She was so scared for Jenny; her behaviour was so different…  
Before Jenny had suddenly started crying, her eyes were wide open, and she had searched for Vastra, begging her to stay, to protect her. Even when the lizard had held her close and promised she would never leave, Jenny hadn’t stopped crying and shaking…

Before Jenny found an answer, another loud noise came from downstairs; she quietly let out a sigh of relief. She was feeling better now, with all her power she tried suppressing the memory of her nightmare, being here now with Vastra holding her, it seemed almost like a distant fear, something that couldn’t harm her as long as she was safe in her wife’s arms.   
Before Vastra could brush it over, blame Strax who she’d scold later and ask about Jenny’s strange behaviour, another sound of an explosion disturbed the silence of the house.

“For the goddess sake, Strax!!”  
An angry Silurian stormed downstairs, her hand holding Jenny’s tight. With glowering eyes she darted through the room, looking for the Sontaran to blame for this disaster.  
The Sontaran’s head appeared in the door to the kitchen.  
“Ah, Madame, Miss Jenny! You are up!”  
Quickly they got inside the kitchen, Vastra immediately ripped the weapon out of Strax’ hands and threw it aside.  
“What do you think you are doing, Strax!?”  
“I wanted to prepare breakfast for you, when this little black creature appeared! It has…”  
Strax started counting, finding his two three-fingered hands didn’t have enough fingers to show how much he wanted to. Quickly he went over to Vastra and forced her hand to hold up two fingers. The lizard winced and let out an offended hiss, pulling her hand back.  
The Sontaran rolled his eyes and now forced Jenny to hold up two fingers; she was much more cooperative, especially after seeing how roughly he had treated her wife’s hand.  
Now content with the eight fingers being held up, he continued.  
“It has EIGHT legs! I know it is somewhere here…”  
He looked around, mumbling something about surrendering or dying by the hand of a Sontaran who fought in many battles, and crouched down to look under one of the cupboards.  
“Wot were yer makin’ so much noise fer? Couln’t catch it, eh?”  
“Catch the hideous creature!? It has to be obliterated!”  
The Sontaran huffed offended and received an eyeroll and a glare from Jenny and Vastra.  
“Wotever… Did yer cook breakfast fer us?”  
“Well, I got distracted, boy! Destroying the enemy always has top priority!”  
“The only priority I got now is getting’ sum tea…”  
Vastra gasped in disbelief and let out a discontent growl.  
Jenny turned to her and grinned, raising one eyebrow before standing tall to place a kiss on Vastra’s lips.  
“Damn tall lizard…”  
She grumbled as she did not succeed without Vastra leaning down a little.  
Vastra chuckled and pushed Jenny against the table, glancing down at her lips.  
They had both pushed aside what happened earlier, as Jenny felt much better now and Vastra didn’t want to ruin the peace they had now.  
“You like this, my love… Don’t you?”  
Teasingly she leaned down a little, Jenny’s warm breath brushing her lips, spurring her on. For a few more seconds she just waited, glanced into Jenny’s eyes and back down at her lips, her tongue flickering just a tiny bit between them, not even touching Jenny yet.  
“Kiss me a’ready…”  
Jenny muttered, it sounded like the mixture of an order and a beg, and Vastra closed the tiny gap between them, kissed Jenny passionately and supported her hands on the table, slowly pinning Jenny down on the table.

Another loud sound interrupted them and made them shrug.  
“STRAX!”  
Vastra shouted and took his weapon once again.  
Jenny immediately followed after her, took one of her hands and leaned against Vastra’s shoulder.  
“I was simply trying to kill the creature while you two were… busy…”  
“We were just-…”  
The Silurian’s face went dark green.  
“You were smooching… Pinning Jenny on the table…”  
“Strax…”  
“You were hungry for her. I believe I could adjust one of the receipts in one of the cook books to cooking human…”  
“STRAX!”  
Both of them now shouted.  
“Yer ain’t cookin’ an eatin’ me, yer giant potato ‘ead!”  
“Try it and I swear, I will throw you into boiling oil…”  
Vastra hissed and protectively wrapped her arms around Jenny, glaring at Strax.  
“Fiiine… I will not cook you, boy… Now, hand me my grenade thrower!”  
“Strax, what did I tell you about grenades!?”  
“It’s a grenade thrower! Not a grenade!”  
Vastra rolled her eyes and shook her head. The Sontaran tried getting a hold of his gun again, but Vastra held it up high. Even when he tried jumping to get it, it was out of his reach.  
“Give it back, Madame! This is unfair! You have a tactical advantage due to your height!”  
“Yer ain’t gettin’ tis back… Ferget it!”  
After a few more unsuccessful tries he gave up and crossed his arms.  
“Fiiine… Have it, then… I have more weapons to kill the creature!”  
“t’s a spider, Strax… It ain’t ‘ideous or ‘nythin’… Jus’ let it be… Don’ do any ‘arm, as far as I know… Right, ma’am?”  
“They are useful sometimes. They eat flies and other insects.”  
“Oooooh! So it kills other creatures and devours them! That is interesting! Perhaps it wants to be in an alliance with me, a brave Sontaran warrior!”  
“Strax, it…”  
Jenny started, but the Sontaran already crouched down and crawled around, looking under all the cubicles in the kitchen.  
“Hello? Little spider killer? Come out! We can form an alliance! Show yourself! I am Strax, a Sontaran warrior of the planet Sontar!”  
Vastra and Jenny started chuckling and looked at each other, shaking their heads in unison.  
“Well, gotta make me tea meself then… Yer surely wanna ‘ave sum as well, hm?”  
“Sit down, my love… I will cook the tea today… After…”  
She bit her lip and pulled Jenny into a loving embrace. Then she sat Jenny down on the chair and proceeded making tea, glancing over at Jenny every now and then. The fear in Jenny’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed and Vastra came back to her and took her hand, giving her a reassuring smile. Jenny looked up into Vastra’s eyes and smiled as well, gratefully.  
When the water was boiling, Vastra quickly got it and poured tea in two cups, sat down next to Jenny, and continued holding her hand while they were enjoying their tea.  
Every now and then the lizard’s eyes worriedly glanced over at Jenny, but she seemed to be fine for now. It calmed Vastra that Jenny was feeling at least a little better now, and she continued drinking her tea.


	13. In front of the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra and Jenny cuddle in front of the fire and are being lovely towards each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly fluff, to be honest. I just felt like I needed to put some more fluff into the fic... The last few chapters were very angsty and the next chapters won't be any different XD But here, have some fluff in between!

“Jenny, my love, would you… Like to help me with the files, dear?”  
Vastra asked quietly as she ran her hand through the hair of the woman cuddled up against her chest in front of the fire. She had been telling her wife stories. Stories of ancient warriors falling in love with wonderful human girls, living with a warrior from a strange planet who looked like a potato.  
Eventually even Strax sat down to tell Jenny stories, mostly about his adventures with Billy, as he seemed to like him a lot. After that he told her about his new friend, their new companion, as he called the little spider.  
For quite a few hours he had been gone, building something both Vastra and Jenny were afraid would blow up the whole house, but Strax came back with a translator of some kind. He wanted to communicate with the spider, asking it how it felt about an alliance with them.  
Apparently, the spider agreed; at least it was calmly sitting on Strax’ round head. He had indeed complained about the tickling of the spider’s legs on his skin, however, he refused to get it off.  
“Hmhm…”  
Jenny quietly made but didn’t move an inch to let Vastra get up and instead only held on to her tighter. With concern in her eyes the Silurian gazed down at the human’s face, finding it to be unnaturally pale, dark circles under her eyes. Even Jenny’s eyes seemed tired, the burning fire of life Vastra loved so much about those brown eyes was barely even there anymore. It concerned Vastra that even though Jenny was sleeping enough, more than enough, she was feeling so tired all day, yet at the same time she seemed so scared of falling asleep…  
She leaned down and placed a loving kiss on Jenny’s forehead, carefully running her hand through Jenny’s locks; they were a bit tangled.  
“Strax? Could you… Pass me the brush?”  
Vastra quietly asked and held out one of her hands. Immediately Jenny looked up alarmed and glanced up into Vastra’s eyes, both her hands grasping the fabric of Vastra’s dress tighter. Quickly the lizard placed her hand on Jenny’s cheek and stroked over it with her thumb, trying to give her an encouraging smile.  
“I won’t leave, my sweet… Worry not… I am here, my Jenny… Always… I promise… And… Look, dearest… This ring… On your hand, and on mine… They are a symbol of our promise, yes?”  
“An’… a symbol of our love… Me darlin’…”  
Vastra let out a slight chuckle and nodded. She felt better now that Jenny was smiling; it calmed her and gave her comfort. That Jenny was feeling alright. Her smile reassured her she wasn’t doing something wrong.  
The look in Jenny’s eyes, however, the look of desperation, of fear, startled Vastra and didn’t stop bugging her.  
Jenny was still keeping her mind closed, not allowing Vastra to read her mind and, on rare occasions, sense what her wife could sense, feel what she could feel.  
This had happened only a few times, it was quite a shock for both of them, they never quite got used to it.  
“Your brush, Madame. If you two don’t mind, McNoodleson and I are going to talk about war strategies…”  
“You and McNoowhat!? Nevermind, Strax… Have fun…”  
With a sigh Vastra took the brush and looked down at Jenny, a warm smile resting on her lips. Jenny was cuddled up against her chest again, holding Vastra close. Gently the Silurian stroked over Jenny’s cheek again; she looked up.  
“My sweet… Jenny… Would you like to sit up, my dear? So I can brush your hair, love?”  
Jenny nodded and lifted her head a little. The light of the afternoon sun shining through the window made Vastra realize just how pale Jenny looked; she bit her lip in concern. Her scaled fingers traced over Jenny’s face, and the young woman leaned into the touch with half closed eyes.  
“Jenny… Are you tired?”  
Vastra quietly asked, looking her wife deep into the eyes.  
Jenny quickly shook her head, her whole body started trembling. As did Vastra’s hand now; she thought she did something wrong.  
“I apologize… I am sorry, my love, I-…”  
“Shhh… Vastra… Me love… I… I ain’t tired… Not even a lill bit… Don’ worry… ‘m fine…”  
“But Jenny, you look so-… Alright… I… I am worrying so much, my dearest…”  
Jenny smiled at her and placed a kiss on Vastra’s cheek, smiling even more as Vastra blushed and her scales went a darker green.  
“Yer blushin’, dear…”  
“Sh… I am not…”  
“Yes, yer are… Yer cheeks go full green… Looks adorable…”  
Jenny mumbled and placed another kiss on Vastra’s scaled cheek, chuckling a little.  
The lizard leaned into the kiss and her lips curled in relief. Jenny really seemed to feel a lot better now…  
Without letting go of Vastra’s hand, the woman now sat in front of her, her back turned to Vastra, eyes staring into the mid-distance.  
Vastra took the brush and gently pulled it through Jenny’s long brown hair, smiling a little. Slowly she untangled Jenny’s hair and continued brushing it to smoothen it even more.  
Up to this day, she was still fascinated by Jenny’s hair. It wasn’t practical in any way, that’s why Jenny put it up most of the time. But it had something about it that enchanted Vastra. The way her locks fell down her back and moved in such elaborate grace every time Jenny moved around, the Silurian could watch this for hours.  
She had done that before, sitting there, hypnotised by Jenny’s hair while she was doing whatever tasks she could do with her hair open.  
It was only shortly after Jenny had moved in; she wasn’t her maid back then, she was just… Jenny. Jenny Flint who was saved by Vastra and the Doctor…  
Jenny had started cleaning the house without being asked to do it; she found the house could use some cleaning. And when she did so, Vastra had often found herself glancing at the young girl for hours.  
She had watched how Jenny struggled cleaning with her hair down. One day she started putting it up. For months Vastra didn’t see Jenny with her hair down… And now it was something mostly reserved for their time together.

“Vastra? Love?”  
Jenny whispered and turned her head a little. Vastra woke from her trance like state and glanced into Jenny’s eyes with a confused but happy smile.  
“Yes, my dear?”  
“Yer ‘ave been brushin’ me ‘air for… I dunno… the last ten minutes? Yer not done yet?”  
“Oh… Have I?”  
With a chuckle Jenny turned around and looked into Vastra’s blue eyes full of confusion. The slight tilt of Vastra’s head only added to the image of slight puzzlement, and Jenny brought her hand up to caress her wife’s cheek.  
“Yer ‘ave… Still fascinated by it, eh?”  
Jenny asked and wiggled her head a little, a few strands of hair falling into her face. She was fully aware that the lizard was intrigued by her hair, never really understanding why.  
Gently Vastra tugged the few strands of hair back behind Jenny’s ears and watched as the shortest ones didn’t stay there and only escaped the scaled hand over and over again. A playful smile lay on her lips as she tried again and again, finding it to be an impossible task to achieve.  
“Vastra?”  
“Yes, my sweet?”  
The confused lizard blinked a few times and then leaned in for a soft kiss, closing her eyes as she felt warm human lips on hers.  
Her fingers interlocked with Jenny’s, her other hand was busy running through Jenny’s hair, gripping it a little, but not in a way she could hurt Jenny.

When the clock struck three, both of them jumped. They’ve been sitting there for more than four hours; Jenny started to feel quite hungry.  
“Vastra… Can we… ‘ave lunch?”  
“Hmhm… Perhaps there’s still something left from yesterday for you, love… Let’s go…”  
Neither of them moved, they continued sitting on the floor, cuddling close, enjoying each other’s presence. They didn’t even talk much; Jenny was resting against Vastra’s chest. She felt safe in her wife’s arms, and she could feel her strong beating heart, matching her own heartbeat perfectly.  
Vastra gently ran her hands through Jenny’s hair and looked down at her with a warm smile.  
She couldn’t put in words how much she loved Jenny, how much she needed her and cared about her. Though she knew a lot, read many books, words to describe what she felt for Jenny didn’t seem to exist. None seemed big enough to fit all of her love for Jenny in it.  
Home. Safety. Being herself.  
All of those words came to her mind when thinking of her wife, not one of those fitted all of Vastra’s love for her, though.  
Jenny.  
That was the word that sounded best in her head. The name of her wife, always depicting her face, her sweet smile, her little mole, her burning eyes, her beautiful dark hair, her soft hands, her warmth, her love.  
Lost in thought the Silurian’s hand was fondling Jenny’s hair, tickling the young woman a little. A happy smile rested on her face as Jenny cuddled even closer and let out a content sigh.  
“Yer warm…”  
Jenny mumbled and squeezed Vastra’s hand she was holding tightly a little, held it close to her heart and smiled.  
“Can’t be, my love…”  
Vastra replied. She was well aware of her cold blooded nature, knowing she could not emit heat like Jenny did.  
“Stupid lizard… I din’t mean like that… Like… Yer make me feel warm… ‘ere… In me ‘eart…”  
“Do I have to cool you down, my heart?”  
She gave her a wide grin and placed her cool lips on Jenny’s forehead, letting them rest there for a while.  
“Yer only makin’ it worse like that, me darlin’… An’ yer know that…”  
Jenny whispered and looked up. A blush coloured her cheeks, her breath was a little faster than it normally was. And Vastra could sense it. Jenny’s desire…  
“Jenny…”  
A faint whisper escaped Vastra’s lips as she leaned down. Her lips close to Jenny’s. Closer, closer… Until she stopped, not even a finger would fit into the gap between their lips now. She was waiting. Waiting for the brown eyes to leave her lips and gaze up into her own eyes, waiting for the fire in Jenny’s eyes to blaze up and fill them again.  
Jenny held her breath. Her eyes didn’t leave Vastra’s lips. They were so close, so tempting. Yet Vastra was hesitating, waiting for something.  
Slowly her tired eyes looked up and found two bright blue orbs gazing at her. A short flicker, nothing more than a little spark of life. Vastra’s eyes turned sad.  
Her wife’s eyes looked even more tired than before; her liveliness stolen from them.  
Vastra’s fear for Jenny’s life grew steadily, trying to take over her whole body. Images of Jenny fading away appeared in front of her, her hands started shaking.  
Quickly she buried her hands in Jenny’s hair and pulled the young woman close for a kiss, passionate and desperate at the same time, hoping she could keep Jenny close forever like this.  
The taste of salt made her back away; she let out a hiss and looked at Jenny. Tears were forcing their way out of her eyes, running down her cheeks.  
“Jenny! Jenny, why are you crying, my love?? What is it??”  
“I… I dunno… No… Nothin’…”  
She cried and wrapped her arms around Vastra firmly, silently weeping into her chest.  
“My poor Jenny… Why can’t you tell me what’s going on, dearest? I am sc-… I… I don’t want you to cry…”  
“Yer… Yer ‘ere… An’… Not leavin’… Thas… all thas important…”  
Vastra hugged Jenny close and slowly caressed her back, trying to soothe Jenny by doing so.  
Slowly the shivering stopped and even the tears disappeared, yet Jenny did not dare look up, afraid if she moved Vastra would fade away and she’d find herself captured in her nightmares once more.  
Jenny didn’t mean to cry, didn’t mean to make Vastra worry even more than she already did. During their kiss she felt the Silurian’s shaking hands, and her desire to tell Vastra everything in the hope of her being able to solve this grew.  
The horrific voice in her head seemed to be woken up by it, telling her how it would make this kiss their last.  
In fear of losing Vastra she promised, once again, to keep quiet, to not let any word about the monster pass her lips.  
It left her alone, but Jenny’s fear remained.  
“Oh, my love… My sweet Jenny… I… What are you scared of? What is haunting you, dear?”  
“It… It don’ matter, me dear… Let’s… Let’s ‘ave lunch… I… I’m ‘ungry… Yeah?”  
“Of course, dearest…”  
Vastra mumbled after a short pause, nodding, and finally getting up. She held Jenny close to her, noticing not only her hands but Jenny’s as well were shaking the slightest bit.  
Together they made their way to the dining room, Vastra got out the left overs from the day before and heated them up for Jenny who was still clinging onto her.  
They sat down, Jenny in Vastra’s lap. Both silently decided to not have any more distance between them than they needed to. And right now Jenny could eat while Vastra was nuzzling into the back of her dress, reassuring the young woman she wouldn’t leave.


	14. "Leave me an' Vastra alone!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny confronts the voice in her head. Vastra's glad Jenny is feeling better and gives into her fear, admitting it all to Jenny, searching for comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter instead of working for university (mostly because I was unable to do ANYTHING because of a horrible headache), we'll see when my next chapter will be up... My exam is on 3rd, so next Thursday... Actually, this chapter was supposed to go a little differently, a little very differently, but yeahhh... I hope you enjoy it!

After Jenny had finished her lunch, Vastra got up together with her and quietly followed after her wife. Quickly she washed the plate, the lizard wrapped her arms around Jenny’s waist from behind and glanced over Jenny’s shoulder, reassuring her she wasn’t alone.  
Jenny dried the plate and turned around slowly, looking up in Vastra’s face. A soft smile curled her lips when she saw Vastra wiggle her head a little.  
The glances at her lips didn’t go unnoticed, and Jenny slowly nodded and stood a little taller. Vastra leaned down and placed her lips on Jenny’s, her hands desperately holding Jenny close again.  
Jenny’s hands were slowly wandering Vastra’s back up and down, until she crossed them in Vastra’s neck and relaxed a little.  
Neither of them wanted to break their kiss, Jenny’s finger’s started cramping at the lack of Oxygen.  
Vastra noticed, one of her eyes opening a little. Two dark brown eyes were staring at her, definitely showing what she needed, but Vastra opened her mouth a little, and Jenny did the same. She trusted Vastra with her life.  
As Vastra exhaled during their kiss, Jenny could feel Oxygen filling her lungs once again. Her hands relaxed and Jenny’s kiss grew more passionate, longing for more.  
It was Vastra who broke the kiss this time and gasped for air. An accomplished smile lay on Jenny’s lips as she placed one of her hands against Vastra’s dark green cheek.  
“Yer a’ready out of breath, me love?”  
She teased with a raise of her eyebrow and placed a kiss on Vastra’s cheek.  
Moments later Jenny found herself shoved against the wall, Vastra glancing down at her with narrowed eyes and a satisfied smile, slowly licking her lips.  
“What did you say, my dearest? I am definitely not out of breath… Would you like to find out, my love?”  
Her heart was pounding fast, her eyes dangerously sparkling. Hungrily she glanced down at Jenny’s lips, then wandering upwards.  
Jenny’s eyes, widened in fear, stared at something. Something behind Vastra’s back.  
“No…”  
She whispered desperately and brought her hands up to her head, shaking it violently.  
“No, no! I… Please… Leave her…”  
She begged quietly, trying to cover her ears to shut the voice in her head up.  
“Jenny?”  
Vastra asked with a tilt of her head, her grasp around Jenny tightened. Her breath was speeding up, but for a different reason than before.  
“Jenny! What is it!? Talk to me, my love!”  
Jenny started sobbing and sunk to the ground, Vastra with her. She placed her arms around Jenny and kissed her head, mumbled soothing words. Her hands were shaking, just as much as her wife’s body did, and her heart was racing.  
Vastra held her breath. It rapidly slowed her heart rate, and as she was panting afterwards, she tried taking deep controlled breaths.  
“Jenny… My dearest heart… Please talk to me… You do not have to be afraid, my love… It’s only the two of us here… No one means you any harm and-… I didn’t meant to-… Did I scare you, my Jenny?”

Jenny was still holding her head, biting her lip hard in an attempt to keep her sobs to herself. In her head this horrible voice sounded again.  
“YOU WANTED TO TELL HER! YOU WERE TRYING TO OPEN YOUR MIND, WEREN’T YOU!?”  
“No… No… I din’t… I… I don’ wanna lose ‘er, I won’ tell ‘er! Please… Leave us alone… I… I ‘ave never done nothin’ to yer!”  
Jenny yelled at the voice in her mind. It was trying to hurt her, trying to break her. Without any explanation for it.  
“Please… Leave me alone… I a’ready promised that I won’t tell ‘er…”  
“TOO LATE! I WILL NEVER LEAVE! NOT UNTIL MY PLAN SUCCEEDED! YOU ARE MY VICTIM, AND NOW SLEEP!”  
“No… I don’ wanna sleep anymore…”  
“DO OR I WILL KILL YOUR MADAME!”  
This angered Jenny more, gave her new strength. Vastra was way more than this. A monster that could probably see all her memories, all those moments she held so fond, all those memories of her loving wife, such a monster dared call Vastra her “madame”?  
With all her power she pushed the monster as far away in her mind as possible.  
“YOU CAN’T! YOU CAN’T GET RID OF ME! NO!”  
The voice now shouted, a hint of despair in its voice.  
Jenny concentrated, tried to take all her power together, she thought of Vastra, of their first kiss, of their relationship developing. All of it gave her strength, strength to get rid of this monster.  
“Leave me an’ Vastra alone!”  
She yelled at it; the voice sounded weaker already. Jenny could feel Vastra’s warm embrace, slowly her mind and body reconnected. She wasn’t alone in this fight against some invisible monster cowardly sneaking into people’s minds, making them fall asleep. She had Vastra.  
“NOOOOO! YOU CAN’T GET RID OF MEEE! NOT THIS EASILY!”  
“I… am… Think again…! An’ now leave me mind alone and… dunno, look for sumone else to posess! Yer shoun’t pick a fight with us, we know yer sorts… Alien…”  
“AHHHH! I WILL NOT LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!”  
It fell quieter, until it faded away. Vastra’s voice filled Jenny’s ears, her embrace and kisses made her shiver in pleasure.  
She opened her eyes tiredly, and as soon as she saw Vastra, she let out a sigh of relief and smiled up at her.  
“Jenny! By the goddess, you are fine… My love… I… I am sorry… Did I scare you? I… I didn’t mean to-… I… I thought you… You weren’t… scared of me, but… Maybe I am just a-…”  
“No…”  
Jenny whispered weakly, glancing up into blue eyes. She brought her hand up to trace over those familiar green scales; Vastra’s face was still pale in fear.  
“Wasn’t scared of yer, me darlin’… Never…”  
A sigh of relief escaped Vastra’s lips and she gently placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead. Then she looked at her, and her eyes turned sad.  
“But what was it you were afraid of, my dearest? Jenny, please tell me… I promise, no harm will come to you, my lovely heart…”  
“t’s nothin’… Don’ worry… I am fine now, me dearest…”  
Jenny then kept quiet for a few seconds, nothing. No horrid voice in her head.  
Happily, she pulled Vastra close and gave her a long, passionate kiss.  
Afterwards she got up and held her hand out for Vastra. She was feeling a lot better now, no voice, no urge to sleep, and her fear of losing Vastra seemed more and more like a distant dream.  
“Jenny? Are you sure you are alright?”  
Vastra asked while taking Jenny’s hand and getting up. Her scaled hand was tracing invisible lines in Jenny’s face. As much as she wanted to smile, her eyes remained concerned and sad.  
“Yes, I am, Vastra… I really am… No need to be sad… Trus’ me…”  
Jenny placed her own hand on top of Vastra’s and closed her eyes contently.  
“Strax?”  
Vastra called out and only seconds later the Sontaran came into the kitchen.  
“Wot’d yer call ‘im for?”  
“Please let him check if he can spot any anomalies with you, my dearest…”  
“Wot? Me bein’ ‘appy’s an anomaly to yer all of the sudden?”  
Vastra pulled her close and wrapped both her arms around Jenny, lovingly gazing down into Jenny’s brown eyes.  
The fire wasn’t back. It was missing, and that startled Vastra. Other than that Jenny really seemed to be fine.  
“Of course not, my heart… But… You say… you say you feel fine… Yet… Your eyes look so scared, so… tired… And…”  
Vastra stopped. Should she bring this up? Should she mention this beloved fire in Jenny’s eyes not having returned?  
“An’?”  
“Nothing, my love… I… Your eyes look so… Tired, my Jenny…”  
“Madame is right, boy. Your eyes look like you haven’t recharged in days.”  
“Jenny, please trust me… I… I just want to make sure you really are fine, my sweetest love…”  
With a slight nod Jenny buried her head in Vastra’s chest and sighed again.  
“’m glad ‘m feelin’ better now… An’ yer don’ ‘ave to worry ‘bout me anymore, yeah?”  
Jenny stood tall and placed a few soft kisses on Vastra’s scales, noticing the darkening of them immediately.  
“Miss Jenny, please sit down so I can check on you with my scanner. You cannot go on clinging to Madame like a little earthling child during the procedure.”  
“Strax…”  
Vastra mumbled with a low growl and narrowed her blue eyes that were piercing Strax.  
“Yes, fine… You still have to let go of her for the examination, Madame.”  
Slowly Vastra let go of Jenny and walked over to a chair to let her wife sit down. With a smile she brushed a few strands of hair behind Jenny’s ear and placed another kiss on Jenny’s forehead as soon as she sat down.  
Strax got his medical scanner out and pressed a few buttons, and then proceeded to scan Jenny’s body from head to toe. Slowly, so his scanner got every detail of Jenny.  
After a few minutes of impatient waiting he showed the scanner to Vastra and Jenny, and shrugged.  
“The scanner can’t detect anything wrong with her, Madame. Miss Jenny is completely fine.”  
“She is? That’s…”  
Vastra couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She was so glad Jenny was alright, according to Strax’ scanner as well.  
Just as she wanted to reach for Jenny, her gaze fell onto her fingers with her attempt of cutting her claws. She froze and buried them in Jenny’s hair, hoping her wife wouldn’t notice now.  
Jenny deserved to be happy after feeling so different recently.  
Only now Vastra realized all this had happened in just a day. One day of constant fear of losing Jenny to whatever she was so scared of… It had felt so much longer…

“Vastra?”  
Jenny quietly asked and waved her hand in front of Vastra’s face, the lizard shook her head and looked at her wife.  
“Yes, my sweet?”  
“Yer were starin’ into thin air… Yer fine?”  
“Of course I am… I just… I remembered that… All of this… It happened in just one day, my love. It seems crazy…”  
“Felt like much longer, eh? Yeah, I know… Thought so as well, me dear…”  
Vastra just nodded and placed her forehead against Jenny’s. With a smile she glanced into her dark brown eyes and once again tried spotting this lively fire she loved so much.  
Still missing. Vastra gulped and wrapped her arms around Jenny, placed her head on Jenny’s shoulder now.  
“I love you… I was so scared when you were having these nightmares, my dearest… I… I was so frightened, love… I wanted you to wake up and… And just… Be alright… My Jenny… My lovely, wonderful Jenny… I love you… I’m so glad you are fine now…”  
Her voice broke more and more, turning into little sobs.  
Two warm hands started caressing the Silurian’s back, relaxed her, and comforted her. Jenny’s warm fingers gently touched the back of Vastra’s neck, making her purr unintentionally. The lizard blushed and nuzzled into Jenny’s shoulder once more.  
“t’s a’right… ‘m ‘ere now… I won’t leave yer, I won’t ever… Me darlin’… An’ it’s fine… t’s fine to cry…”  
“I am not crying, my dearest Jenny… See, my love? And I am really happy and relieved, why would I cry in the first place, sweetest queen?”  
Vastra faced Jenny again, and she was right. No tears were running down her cheeks. However, she was biting her lip to keep her sobs in and her body was shaking.  
“Yer shakin’… I know that yer ‘appy… People cry when they’re ‘appy as well…”  
Carefully Jenny traced over Vastra’s scales with her fingers, and she slowly stood taller, pulling Vastra down a little to kiss her cheeks, then the tip of her nose, and then she placed a long gentle kiss on Vastra’s lips.  
Both could taste salt and slowly opened their eyes again.  
“You’re crying, my dear… Is… Is it because you are happy, love?”  
“Yeah, yeah! ‘m ‘appy ev’rythin’s back to normal…”  
“As normal as it can be with a Silurian and a Sontaran in the house… Strax!”  
The Sontaran was holding a miniaturized flame thrower in his hand and waved it around.  
“Don’t you dare use this inside here! Out!”  
“I did not plan on using it in here… I was just trying to figure out what I could burn with it…”  
“’ow ‘bout yer don’ burn anything at all?? An’ wot about that tree yer promised me? Yer ruined the other one becuz of yer grenades…”  
Jenny grinned and glanced up at Vastra who couldn’t quite hold her chuckle in. Strax’ eyes narrowed and he pointed the flame thrower in Jenny’s direction. Vastra let out a hiss and her tongue flickered through the air, she pulled Jenny closer and wrapped her arms around her tighter.  
Strax let his weapon sink, and his small eyes fixed Vastra’s hand. The Silurian of course noticed and her eyes widened.  
“Madame, what happened to-…”  
“Now, Strax! You promised to buy Jenny a new tree! If you could please go buy one while… While Jenny and I look into the files of our case again…”  
“But Madame, your-…”  
“Go!”  
With another flicker of her tongue she gestured him to get out.  
She felt ashamed for cutting her claws, and as she held Jenny close now and nuzzled into her hair again, she glanced down at her fingers. Little wounds, dried out blood, and deep cuts were visible on half her fingers.  
What was she thinking cutting them?  
Jenny.  
All she had in mind in that moment was Jenny’s wellbeing. It almost made her go wild chopping them off, if someone had done this to her, she would have most likely killed them.  
Getting rid of her claws for Jenny was something she decided to do… Still, she should have been more careful…  
Gloves.  
She could hide her hands from not only the world but from Jenny with them and hope her wife wouldn’t notice.  
Perhaps she could use a nail file to make sure she couldn’t hurt Jenny…

“Vastra?”  
“Yes?? Yes, my love?”  
“Yer so quiet today…”  
“I am not, my dearest… I’m just… Happy you are alright, my Jenny…”  
For a moment she glanced down to Jenny’s lips, opened her mouth a little, and then she placed her lips on Jenny’s for another kiss, her hands slowly wandering down to Jenny’s waist.

“Well… I think… We should really look into the files of this case… As we still don’t know this much about it, my sweet… Should we go upstairs? Get the files and… Look through them, my love?”  
Jenny nodded and gave Vastra a sweet smile.  
“Hmhm! ‘m sure we can find out sumthin’ with Billy’s diary, eh?”  
Now Vastra was the one to silently agree. They headed up, Vastra paid close attention to not show her claws to Jenny, and entered the study.  
The files of the case were still scattered all across the floor, Vastra’s grasp around Jenny’s hand tightened as she remembered why exactly they were spread near the cold fireplace.  
Jenny was asleep and afraid. Only yesterday. It seemed so far away, yet now that she was back in her study, it seemed so close.  
The picture of Jenny’s desperate face appeared in front of her eyes; her breath sped up and her hands started shaking.  
“Vastra… Vastra! Wot is it?”  
“Jenny… Jenny… Jenny, my dearest love… My dear, dear Jenny…”  
Vastra whispered, her voice cracking every now and then. She wrapped her arms around Jenny and buried her face in Jenny’s hair, taking in Jenny’s scent.  
It calmed her down, made her forget what had happened the day before. Only the now was important, only Jenny here existed in her head in this moment.  
“I love you…”  
“Vastra… Yer scared, ain’t yer? Yer… Yer don’ ‘ave to be…”  
Slowly Jenny guided Vastra across the room, to Vastra’s dark armchair. She sat down and pulled Vastra to take a seat in her lap.  
It was dark in the room, only a single candle Jenny had now lighted was beaming a little light into the gloomy room.  
“Yer can tell me… Wot are yer scared of?”  
“I… I tried to be strong, my love… I… I was so scared for your life, Jenny… When you fell asleep downstairs-… I… I thought I had lost you! Again! I-… I couldn’t take that… I… I…”  
Vastra started sobbing once again and curled up in Jenny’s lap, much in a cat-like manner, and cried into her wife’s chest.  
Lovingly Jenny stroked over the Silurian’s cheek, trying to soothe her with it.  
“Shh… Shh… Vastra… Me dear… Don’ worry… I know… Calm down… Breathe… I ain’t leavin’ yer ever… Promise… Yer see the ring on yer finger? t’s a symbol of me love for yer… I won’t never leave… Tis a symbol of our promise… Right?”  
Jenny showed Vastra the ring on her own finger. Vastra held her hands hidden in the folds of Jenny’s skirt under her own head, now shakingly glancing up at Jenny’s hand with the golden ring on it.  
“A symbol of me love for yer and yer love for me… Yes?”  
Slowly the Silurian now nodded and tried forming a smile, but her head immediately thought back to the night before.  
“But… I… I couldn’t wake you! I… I was so scared you might leave me in this moment… That… That you might never wake up again! That you might just fade away and I would be all alone again! I-…”  
One of Jenny’s fingers on her lips, Vastra fell quiet again and looked up with big, frightened eyes, up into Jenny’s face. A loving smile lay on the woman’s lips, her eyes seeming black, weakly reflecting the flicker of the candle’s flame.  
“I could never leave yer, Vastra… I love yer an’… I will always love yer… I won’t leave yer alone… Promise… Look… Rings…”  
She reminded her again with a laugh and showed her the golden ring once more.  
Vastra blinked a few times and nodded slowly, sat back up. Gently she placed her lips on Jenny’s and closed her eyes.  
Having Jenny here, feeling fine, was all Vastra wanted. Especially after the rough day they had.  
With a soft sigh she crossed her arms in Jenny’s neck and felt the warm lips wander down her neck and to her collarbones. Still, Vastra had her eyes closed, just enjoying the gentle kisses of her wife, kisses that slowly took her fear, calmed her down, and made her smile.  
“Thank you… Jenny, my dearest… My… Queen… You’ve always been able to make me feel calm again… Or… The opposite…”  
She then added with a wink, and she could feel Jenny’s teeth gently biting into her skin, a soft moan escaped Vastra and her face flustered.  
“Oh? Was that… a moan, me darlin’? Are yer blushin’ again? Yer a lusty little lizard…”  
“I am not little, my dear… And… Is it so wrong to… To desire you, dearest Jenny? My… My goddess?”  
A rosy flush coloured Jenny’s cheeks as her lips curled into a shy smile and she glanced up into Vastra’s eyes.  
“No…”


	15. Cold cheeks

Vastra was resting in Jenny’s lap, still, purring a little as Jenny caressed her cheek lightly. Her tired eyes were glancing up at the woman from time to time, always closing with a satisfied smile.  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny whispered and placed her hand on the Silurian’s forehead gently.  
“Hnngg…”  
She just made and nuzzled into Jenny’s warm lap even more. Both her hands she held against her chest, hiding her claws.  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny tried again and shook her a little, receiving a displeased growl in return.  
“Vastra… Yer skin’s all cold… Per’aps we should sit in fron’ of the fire?”  
“You are warm enough, my lovely… Stay… Not move…”  
Tiredly she got even closer to Jenny, her loving gaze begging for Jenny to keep her warm as she did at night.  
With a roll of her eyes Jenny placed both her hands on Vastra’s cheeks, a shiver ran through her body at her wife’s cold cheeks.  
“Vastra… Go to the fireplace… Yer cheeks’re so cold…”  
“M-m… No… I want to stay with you…”  
She mumbled and shook her head a little.  
Jenny slowly tried getting up; she was starting to feel chilly as well. And Jenny knew if she was feeling cold, Vastra was practically freezing.  
Somehow, she managed to get up without being hissed at by her wife, but as soon as she was standing, two hands tightly grasped the hem of her skirt and two blue anxious eyes stared up at her.  
“D… Don’t leave me, Jenny! Please! I… I… I can’t do this without you… Stay… Stay with me, my love…”  
Vastra’s shaking hands tried pulling Jenny down to her, the lizard’s face full of despair.  
Following her wife’s pull, Jenny kneeled down in front of her and gently wrapped her arms around Vastra, holding her close to her chest.  
“I won’t, me dear… Don’ worry… Jus’ wan’ed to light a fire so yer not freezin’ anymore…”  
“Jenny, stay… Stay… I need you… Please, my dearest…”  
Vastra was mumbling again and again, her hands now clenching to the back of Jenny’s dress, holding her tight.  
She needed this moment of vulnerability. Of Jenny taking care of her, Jenny staying, holding her tight, telling her it’ll all be alright.  
“Shh… Vastra… t’s all a’right… Yer safe… ‘ere… with me…”  
Jenny whispered and lovingly stroked over the Silurian’s back. Feeling Vastra tremble like that stung in her heart, made her want to hold Vastra even closer than she already did.  
“Me luv… Don’ worry… ‘m ‘ere… Ain’t leavin’ yer, never… Promise… Yer me strong Silurian warrior… Me wife… The best that ever ‘appened to me… An’ don’ yer forget that! Yeah, me darlin’? Yer me very ‘eart…”  
Vastra let out a soft sigh and nodded, cuddling into Jenny’s embrace.  
“I love you, Jenny Flint… My… My dearest… My queen… I love you…”  
Jenny just let out a quiet laugh and placed a kiss on the Silurian’s forehead, her lips tracing over the pale scales lovingly.  
“Vastra… Yer face’s so cold… Come, sit by the fire… It’ll warm yer up… I won’ leave! Promise! I’ll sit with yer…”  
“Hmhm… Stay forever… My love… My sweet love…”  
Vastra mumbled, her eyes staring up anxiously once again.  
Jenny wasn’t used to seeing her wife like this, so scared. It frightened her as well, wanting to know what exactly was making Vastra so afraid. She wanted to know everything, wanted to make out the source of Vastra’s fears and get rid of it.  
“Vastra… Why are you so scared?”  
She whispered and placed both her hands on her wife’s cheeks, cupping her face, looking deep into those beautiful blue eyes.  
For some time, Vastra didn’t say anything. She was just somewhat sadly gazing up into Jenny’s eyes, opening and closing her mouth a few times.  
Was something about Jenny making Vastra sad? Was that why she was looking at her with this sadness in her eyes? But what was it?  
Jenny was feeling fine, she managed to overcome her nightmares… Didn’t she?  
Was there something Vastra could see and Jenny couldn’t?  
“I…”  
Vastra then started, suddenly flinching, and lowering her gaze. Her hands grasped the back of Jenny’s dress tighter as she remembered how terrified Jenny was just one day ago, how desperate she was, they both were.  
She didn’t want Jenny to be concerned, Jenny deserved to be happy.  
“Vastra… Me dearest… Please, talk to me…”  
“I… Jenny… I…”  
Vastra tried again, but then a quiet sob escaped her lips.  
Jenny immediately held her even closer, rocked her a little and whispered those soft, loving words that managed to calm Vastra down immediately.  
Hearing her wife’s voice say such sweet things always calmed her down, distracted her, ripped her out of this fear that overtook her.  
“I love you… Jenny… I… It was… a rough day… You… Were sleeping… And… Looked so scared… And… When you were awake you… You were frightened… That I might leave you… That I might… disappear… And… I… I don’t want you to think that… And… I… I was scared as well, you know… Not… Not knowing what was going on! What if you die-…”  
“Vastra! Vastra, look at me! I won’ leave yer! Promise!”  
“But… But Jenny, you are an… You are human… And you will-…”  
Jenny started shaking her head and shushed Vastra, her hands shaking the slightest bit.  
She had thought about this as well, many times. How it would break Vastra’s heart if she had to go… But she knew it wouldn’t help either of them if they concerned themselves with death instead of being grateful for the time they got together.  
Jenny didn’t want to start imagining what would have been if she had never met Vastra, where they would be now. Only one thing was for sure, none of them would be as happy as they were now…  
“Vastra… Shh… t’s a’right… I know… I know wot yer thinkin’… I… I thought ‘bout it of’en enough… But we got each other… We’re ‘appy… An’… We deserve to be…”  
Two blue eyes peered up at her, big, blue eyes. For minutes and minutes Vastra just stared at Jenny, somewhat enchanted by the woman’s words and eyes.  
Slowly the lizard nodded and took a deep breath.  
“Cold…”  
She suddenly whispered and her gaze wandered down to Jenny’s upper legs and a smug smile curled Vastra’s lips.  
Slowly she lifted Jenny’s skirt and placed her head on Jenny’s thighs, the young woman gasped at the cold scales touching her legs and immediately tried pulling Vastra back up.  
“Vastra! Yer cold! Get back up ‘ere!”  
She just hissed at Jenny and pushed her down to lay down on top of her now.  
“But you are so wonderfully warm down there, my dearest love…”  
“Still! No reason to jus’ crawl under me skirt whenever yer feel like it!”  
Jenny complained as the Silurian tried once more to warm herself up a way, she found to be quite effective.  
Not only did it warm her up properly, but she also got to tease her wife a little.  
“Vastra, ge’ back up ‘ere! I wanna…”  
Jenny stopped and pulled her wife back up, placing a soft kiss on her lips. Even with only one candle lighting the room, Jenny could see the darkening of Vastra’s cheeks. But she could also see the pale scales in Vastra’s face and how slowly her wife was moving.  
“Fire… Now… Sit…”  
Jenny ordered and roughly pulled her wife to the fireplace.  
Not really paying attention to the hisses and growls she received for that, she let go of Vastra as soon as they reached the fireplace, and kneeled down next to Vastra and gave her a concerned smile.  
“Yer all pale… Le’s warm yer up an’ then we can…”  
Her cheeks reddened and she placed a gentle kiss on Vastra’s cheek before she turned around to light a fire that would warm both of them.  
Just as Jenny wanted to reach for the logs, Vastra’s cold cheek was placed against her back. A smile curled the young woman’s lips as she turned round and surprised the Silurian with another kiss.  
“Clingy, eh?”  
Jenny then mumbled as she noticed Vastra’s hands had wrapped themselves around her waist again.  
“Hm…”  
Vastra just made and placed her head against Jenny’s chest again, letting out a content purr as Jenny’s warmth heated her scales a little.  
“Can’t you warm me up, my dearest love? Not a fire… You…”  
“Wot ‘bout tis… We gotta look through stuff… Case… Remember?”  
“Case… not important… Only… you… Jenny… Sweet Jenny…”  
Tiredly Vastra curled up and tried to make herself as small as possible, she couldn’t even move properly anymore. Still carefully hiding her claws underneath her body, she lay there. Not that Jenny could see them, it was dark anyways…  
“Vastra… Don’ fall asleep… Yer… Yer gonna-…”  
Jenny stopped and carefully scooped her wife’s head up, only a weak growl escaped the lizard’s lip and she glowered up at Jenny who just gave her another sweet smile. As gentle as possible she placed Vastra down on the floor, the cold floor, and Vastra let out a discontent hiss, opening her eyes a little to see where her source of heat went.  
“Jenny… Stay…”  
Was all she could whisper silently before her eyes closed again.  
Quickly Jenny threw some logs into the fireplace and lit them, looking back at her wife every few seconds to see if she was still with her.  
Every now and then she mumbled a “’old on, me love…” and tried hurrying even more.  
After a few more minutes a little fire was burning in front of Jenny, and she quickly pulled Vastra closer.  
The Silurian had stopped complaining about the rough way Jenny had yanked her close now, and it concerned Jenny. With shaky hands she brushed over Vastra’s cheeks.  
“Vastra??”  
She asked and leaned over her, anxiously biting her lip. In one glance down Vastra’s body she could see that the lizard was wearing a light dress, no thick layers of fabric that would keep the cold from slowing her down…  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny tried again, and this time Vastra did move, a little. Tiredly she tried reaching up, but then curled into a ball and hid her hands from Jenny.  
Jenny shouldn’t have to worry. Jenny shouldn’t have to see. They’d grow back in a few weeks’ time… And until then… Vastra just had to be careful…  
“Yer awake… Thank goddess… Thought yer went into hibernation again…”  
Jenny mumbled with a soft smile, trying to lighten the mood and make Vastra laugh. But the Silurian only gazed into the fire and mumbled.  
“Jenny… You… Shouldn’t make jokes about that…”  
“’m sorry, ma’am…”  
Immediately Vastra turned her head and peered up at Jenny, trying to tilt her head a little.  
“Jenny… I… Don’t be… I’m… Just tired…”  
Jenny’s eyes went wide and she looked through the room in panic.  
Tired.  
Oh, that was ringing a bell…  
Of course, their case!  
“Vastra, we should… Look a’ the stuff from the case, hm? Solve it quickly…”  
“The case-… Yes! We have to solve it! Where are the files-…”  
“No, la’er… Yer stay an’ warm up properly… Yeah? I go an’ get the files…”  
Jenny had already gotten up, she looked round a saw some of the files scattered across the floor. She shook her head and picked some of them up.  
“Looks like we’re gonna need sum tea… Be righ’ back…”  
“Jenny… Stay! Don’t leave! P… Please…”  
Vastra begged and sat up now, her blue and now watery eyes gazing at the woman in the half-dark room.  
“A’ight… Imma stay with yer… A’ways…”  
So, Jenny walked back over to the fireplace again, and sat down next to her wife. Gratefully the Silurian placed her head in Jenny’s lap and smiled up at her.  
“Always… My love…”


	16. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra and Jenny are looking through all the information they got about their case, and Billy's diary is quite useful. Just as Vastra tries deciphering Billy's description of the monster, Jenny manages to give her a... more detailled description...

“So, where yer wanna start, me love?”  
Jenny asked and watched as her wife was placing all the newspaper articles down on the floor, crawling round in a rather childlike manner. With a chuckle the young woman picked up Billy’s diary and flipped it open.  
“Poor boy, ain’t ‘e? Look, ‘e wrote down ‘is dreams…”  
Vastra stopped in her movement and turned to Jenny, coming closer as she saw how a few tears escaped her eyes.  
Gently she wiped them away and gave Jenny an uplifting smile.  
“Jenny, my dearest love… You… Are crying…”  
“t’s jus’… The poor boy… ‘e ain’t done nothin’ bad to anyone… I jus’ don’ understand…”  
Vastra nodded slightly and took the book from Jenny’s hands, placed it down next to her and gently rested her forehead against Jenny’s.  
“We’re going to find whatever did this to Billy and save him… I promise… Did he perhaps describe what he saw, my dearest? I’m missing something… What is connecting all these people? Different classes in society… What could they all have had contact with…”  
“Dunno if it ‘elps… But ‘e started wri’in’ down ev’rythin’ a lill while back, see?”  
Jenny opened the book once more, and in neat handwriting there was a date. Exactly nine days back.  
“This was just days before he first fell asleep, my love…”  
Vastra’s eyes were sparkling in excitement as she skimmed through the pages of Billy’s writing, noticing how some pages were soaked in tears, making parts of the writing illegible.  
“There. Nightmares.”  
Vastra just whispered and showed the pages to her wife, she came closer and Vastra immediately placed her head on Jenny’s shoulder, taking in her scent.  
“’e was cryin’ while wri’in’… But… ‘e still wrote it all down ‘ere… See?”  
Quickly Jenny took the diary from Vastra’s hands, she got up and grabbed a candle so she could read it properly.  
“Tonight I ‘ad ‘orrible nightmares… I saw ma an’ pa die righ’ in fron’ of me… An’ it felt so awful, seein’ them lay there in fron’ of me… I don’ wanna ‘ave the nightmares return… But tis ‘ard not to fall asleep… Sumone’s talkin’ to me… In me ‘ead… They say I gotta sleep long if I tell, but I don’ wan’ ma an’ pa worry, so they can read tis an’ send for a detective to ‘elp me! Voice gets louder… An’ I’m afraid it won’ never leave again…”  
When the young woman’s voice broke and a quiet sob escaped her, the Silurian got up quickly and wrapped her arms around her wife.  
“Jenny… My sweet… We will help Billy… Yes? We will find out what did this to him, my love…”  
Gently she ran her hand through Jenny’s hair and let her wife sob into her chest, until she calmed down and nodded.  
“Yeah… We will…”  
Jenny mumbled and glanced up at Vastra, curling her lips a little.  
“Yer so strong… Not scared ‘nymore… Warmin’ up ‘elped, eh? An’ a case to distract yer…”  
“Wha-… I do feel better now that I am warmed up properly… Thanks to you, my dearest…”  
Lovingly she gazed down into Jenny’s eyes, immediately looking down on her lips.  
The fire in Jenny’s eyes wasn’t back… It concerned Vastra, she didn’t know why it wasn’t back…  
Quickly she took the diary and turned round, walking circles in the room, silently reading through Billy’s writing.  
She needed to distract herself. Not being able to bring back the spark in Jenny’s eyes made her frustrated.  
“Vastra? Wot’s wrong?”  
“Nothing…”  
She huffed and stopped in her pace. Slowly she lifted her head and gulped.  
“I’m sorry, my love…”  
“Wish yer weren’t so secretive all the time… Anyways… There ‘as to be sumthin’ that connec’s all the victims… Per’aps they all saw sumthin’?”  
Vastra sat down in front of the fire and stared into the flames, lost in thought.  
What could they all have seen? Different classes of society. Rich lords and ladies, poor children… Nothing about this case made sense to Vastra. Not yet.  
“Billy… was writing about a voice, my love… This is a far fetched theory, but it’s all I got so far… Could it be… Someone using a psychic link of some sort to make people fall asleep?”  
“Talkin’ ‘bout yer own abilities ‘ere, love?”  
“Well, I can make people fall asleep… And get the information I need that way… What if… Someone uses similar abilities to make people fall asleep? For a reason I cannot make out yet… What if there’s…”  
She stopped and lowered her gaze.  
It couldn’t be. There wouldn’t be another Silurian waking up in this time. Thinking about that, a fear overcame her.  
A Silurian, waking up here, finding Vastra married to Jenny, a human?  
They would surely try to harm Jenny, attempting to bring Vastra to her senses… No, she couldn’t let this happen!  
Wherever this voice Billy wrote about came from, she wouldn’t let it harm Jenny!  
Jenny had noticed Vastra’s body tensing up, and she sat down next to her, carefully cupping her face, tenderly stroking the emerald scales.  
Vastra blinked a few times, turned her head a little to face Jenny and buried her hands in Jenny’s hair.  
“I won’t let them harm you, my dearest heart…”  
She whispered, the idea of a Silurian wanting to harm her beloved wife now stuck in her mind.  
“Vastra… Wot’re yer talkin’ bout?”  
“I… I…”  
Vastra started chuckling at her own idea. A Silurian in this time? It would be a great coincidence if someone woke up in this time. And then managed to find her…  
“I just had a really stupid idea… I thought… Because of the psychic link… It could be another Silurian… But that would be utterly nonsensical…”  
“’ow yer comin’ to that conclusion? Yer usin’ yer powers for cases as well, eh?”  
“If I were a Silurian waking up in these times, I would not use my abilities to make apes fall asleep, but to devour them and survive.”  
“Oi!”  
Jenny snapped and crossed her arms, bringing some distance between her and Vastra.  
“I didn’t say I would… And… This all happened many years ago… Fortunately the doctor found me and then… I found you… My precious love…”  
Slowly she moved closer to Jenny and wiggled her head a little. Her breath sped up and her mouth became dry when she gazed at Jenny’s lips.  
The Silurian came closer and closer, until her lips connected with Jenny’s and she let out a satisfied sigh. Warm lips brushing over hers, two hands crossing in her back, slowly but strongly pulling her down to the floor.  
There they lay, next to each other, caught up in a kiss and a close embrace. Her cheeks deep red, Jenny backed away a little and glanced into Vastra’s blue eyes, so eagerly staring at her.  
“We should… Solve… tis case… An’ then… We can ‘ave fun… Yes, me darlin’?”  
“We should, my dearest… Perhaps we can find any visual clues… Perhaps of a physical form of whatever did this, love…”  
Vastra sat back up and moved closer to the fire, it also being the only source of light in her study. The diary in front of her, close enough so that the flames would throw their light on the pages, but not too close, she didn’t want to burn the diary. It could contain important information…  
While Vastra was reading through the diary, looking for clues, Jenny got out a blanket and placed it over Vastra’s body. She knew well that when working Vastra often forgot about her physical wellbeing.  
Watching her wife with a soft smile on her lips, she let out a yawn and glanced at the clock. 8pm already… And they skipped their afternoon tea…  
Jenny did feel quite hungry. But the overwhelming tiredness was worse. Like a wave it suddenly hit her and she held her head and started shaking it.  
“There… Billy tried describing the monster!”  
Vastra called out and pointed at a paragraph written in shaky handwriting, different from the neat writing before. It was an entry from the day before Vastra and Jenny had visited.  
“A big, yellowish shape-…”  
Vastra started and tired deciphering the rest of Billy’s words. He must’ve been crying while writing this, the tears made passages of the text unreadable.  
“’bout seven feet tall, ‘orrid face, empty eyeholes, big mouth, sand comin’ out?!”  
Jenny whispered and stared at the door, her hands clenching the fabric of her skirt, she stumbled backwards.  
“Ye-… Jenny! What is it, my love?”  
Vastra got up, the diary fell to the ground. Quickly she walked over to Jenny, wrapping her arms around her, and holding her close.  
“Jenny, what is it? What-…”  
She turned her head, trying to find what Jenny was staring at. Nothing was there.  
“Jenny, my dear! What are you scared of!? It’s just me here! Just… You and me! My love!”  
Suddenly, the candle went out, and the fire started flickering in a dangerous violet. The lizard’s eyes darted across the room, then she stared at Jenny, in shock.  
“Jenny… My love… Are you… Did it-…”  
“No… Please… Don’ make me fall asleep… I… I din’t mean to tell ‘er… Please… Why… Why don’ yer leave me alone…”  
“My love?!”  
Vastra asked again and tried shaking her wife, fear for losing Jenny took over her body.  
What was it Jenny was seeing!? Did she suffer the same thing Billy was suffering from? Was that why her eyes looked so different!?  
“Jenny! Jenny! What is it!?”  
“YOU TOLD HER!”  
Jenny voice turned into frantic sobs as she tried holding Vastra even closer, searching for her wife’s protective arms.  
“SHE CAN’T PROTECT YOU! NOW SLEEP, HUMAN!”  
“N… no… I… I don’ wanna see ‘er die… Not again… Never again!”  
Jenny was obviously talking to someone, or something…  
“Jenny! Are you… infected with-…”  
A slight nod before Jenny started begging for forgiveness, started blaming herself for everything that happened.  
Vastra gulped and carefully sat down with Jenny still held in a warm embrace, one of her shaky green hands caressing Jenny’s cheek in an attempt of comforting her.  
It all made sense now!  
Jenny being so frightened, Jenny falling asleep, Jenny not wanting to leave Vastra’s side for even one moment!  
She knew exactly what would happen, what this monster would do to her!  
Without thinking about it twice, Vastra gently forced Jenny to look at her, look her in the eyes.  
“Let me… Psychic link with you… Jenny… My heart… I can lend you strength… It will not harm you… I am here… I am here, my dearest love… My poor Jenny…”  
“YOU WILL SLEEP! AND SEE YOUR MISTRESS DIE!”  
Quickly Jenny shook her head, trying to push the monster’s voice down.  
Two blue eyes stared at her, familiar blue eyes.  
Vastra’s eyes.  
“Y…Yes…”  
She whispered and leaned close, her forehead touching the scaled forehead of her wife.  
Vastra took a deep breath, exhaled, and gently placed her fingers on Jenny’s temples.  
Jenny closed her eyes. Only darkness. The monster’s presence surrounding her, trying to control her.  
Then, a little shimmer of light. Vastra. She was there, always, with Jenny.  
“I’m here, my beloved Jenny… Don’t be scared… I am here…”  
Vastra’s soft voice sounded in Jenny’s head, immediately calming her down.  
“YOU’RE TRYING TO HELP HER, LIZARD WOMAN!? I WILL HAVE TO USE MORE POWER, THEN!”  
“Jenny, where is it? Show me…”  
Vastra whispered and gently brushed a bit of her wife’s hair back behind her ear. Her hands were shaking.  
She was scared. Scared for Jenny’s life.  
How could Vastra have ignored facts this obvious!? Jenny was behaving so differently since they came back… She was so scared, then sleeping, the nightmares…  
Worrying about Jenny had made Vastra forget all those obvious hints, the parallels between what she had been informed about by the victims’ families and Jenny’s behaviour…  
“Yer… so beautiful… Vastra… I luv yer…”  
Jenny whispered and brought one hand up, placed it against Vastra’s cheek.  
“Don’t leave me, Jenny… Please, don’t fall asleep! Please stay! JENNY!”  
Vastra started sobbing helplessly, holding Jenny close, trying to give her more and more of her own strength.  
While coming closer, the monster brought up one of its’ hands, Jenny’s eyes widened a little and she held Vastra closer, disrupting her sobs, bringing her back to reality.  
“Jenny… Jenny, my love… Let me help you… Please… I… I don’t want to lose you, my heart… My Jenny…”  
“Vastra… I… t’s a’right… I… Won’t… I got… you… Me love…”  
Gently she placed a kiss on Vastra’s cheek, watching it darken a little.  
The monster’s voice sounded loud in her head, and Vastra wasn’t able to hear it. Only Jenny had to hear the monster’s words.  
It came closer and reached out for Vastra, the eyeholes fixed on the lizard’s neck.  
“SHE CAN’T KEEP YOU FROM SLEEPING FOREVER, HUMAN!”


	17. Attempted Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strax comes to the rescue. With the help of Jenny's gauntlet they want to find out what sort of monster is responsible for the 'sleeping curse' and the nightmares all the victims were having.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After my exam is over now, I can finally write again... I sort of feel like this is a quite short chapter? Compared to the rest, at least.  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> And yes, I still hate Chapter titles. I don't know why I decided to put some in the first place XD

„Madame, are you in there!?“  
Strax suddenly yelled from the other side of the door. Vastra and Jenny both looked up and stared at the door.  
The monster froze in place and slowly turned around to see who was trying to interrupt it.  
“The door seems to be locked… I shall blast it open! Please step back if you do not wish to be killed by flying splinters, Madame!”  
None of them could say anything, Vastra just held Jenny close and tried getting further away from whatever was scaring Jenny. The young woman’s gaze wandered from the door back up to Vastra. She had trouble keeping her eyes open, but the strength Vastra gave her, the way her soothing voice was speaking in her mind, Jenny had a fine string of light to hold on to.  
“SHE’S TRYING TO KEEP YOU AWAKE, HUMAN FOOL! SHE WILL FALL ASLEEP FOREVER SOON ENOUGH! AND THEN YOU WILL, TOO!”  
Jenny’s breath sped up with every word the monster was yelling, and she tried shutting the voice out, only concentrating on her wife’s softly spoken words.  
“Coming in, Madame!”  
Strax yelled and just seconds later the door was blown into pieces, and the Sontaran stepped inside the room.  
The monster, distracted by the exploding door, turned round to look who caused this mess. It let go of Jenny, trying to analyse whatever being Strax might be. It seemed the monster had never encountered a Sontaran before.  
“There you are, Madame! I have been looking for you!”  
“Strax-…”  
Vastra gasped and let out a sigh of relief. Strax’ explosion ripped them both out of their fear, and while Jenny was still clinging to Vastra, at least her tears had become fewer. The lizard was able to shake off her fear of having to watch Jenny die for the moment, her mind could form rational thoughts.  
And even while she was trying to keep Jenny with her, soothe her in every way possible, she could think of what to do next.  
“Strax… Bring me… Jenny’s gauntlet! Bring it here! Now!”  
“Gauntlet? But what for?”  
“Go!”  
Vastra yelled and gestured him to hurry, then she glanced down at her wife. More and more often her eyes were closing.  
“No, don’t leave me, my love… Let me lend you strength… Take it… You need it, my sweetest love… E- Everything will be fine, dearest Jenny! There is no need to cry, no need to be frightened, dear…”  
After some deep breaths she continued, noticing how Jenny’s breaths immediately matched her own.  
“I am here… I will always be… I will never leave you, my Jenny… Just… Just focus… Focus on my eyes… There we go… And stay focused… No one can do you any harm…”  
Jenny’s brown eyes stared up into Vastra’s, the Silurian moving her head a little in graceful movements, not taking her eyes off Jenny for even half a second. There they sat, holding each other close, Vastra protectively wrapping her arms around Jenny, and Jenny’s hands clenching the fabric of Vastra’s dress tight.  
“You can see it… Is the monster still in the room, my love?”  
Weakly Jenny’s eyes wandered back to the monster, and it stared back at her, the horrid face looking even madder than before. It took a step forward and focused on Jenny again.  
The young woman tried backing away, still holding Vastra close. Immediately Vastra started humming in her mind, trying to ease Jenny’s fear a little.  
“I will take that as a ‘yes’, dearest… Oh, my sweet Jenny…”

“Madame, here! The gauntlet!”  
As Strax entered the room the monster stopped once more, and let out a loud, deep growl. Jenny brought one hand up to her head and her breath sped up. Vastra quietly placed her lips on Jenny’s forehead and forced herself to breath as calm as she could.  
“Yes! Bring it here, Strax!”  
Vastra then answered without looking away, the fear reflecting in Jenny’s eyes was not just Jenny’s., and Vastra knew this. It was hers as well. They shared their thoughts; each could see just how scared the other was. And it hurt Vastra. It hurt her, knowing not even her voice, her presence, everything she was trying to do could take Jenny’s fear away.  
Yer scared…  
Jenny whispered, only Vastra being able to hear it in her head. She gulped and caught the gauntlet Strax tossed at her, and quickly she put it on Jenny’s hand.  
“My love… Show me where… Where is it? If… If it is wearing a perception filter, it will be lifted…”  
“YOU THINK HUMAN TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP YOU!? FOOLISH! ALL OF YOU- AHH!”  
As Jenny lifted the gauntlet and pointed directly at the monster, it suddenly felt something change.  
Vastra was focusing her eyes on where Jenny was pointing, but nothing happened. Nothing she could see, at least.  
With a loud growl the monster stumbled backwards, then it shook its head and its eyes fixed on Jenny again.  
“YOU… FOOLISH HUMAN! YOU WILL SEE HER DIE! HERE AND NOW! IF YOU TRY TO LIFT MY PERCEPTION FILTER WITH THAT THING!”  
Jenny immediately lowered her gauntlet and stared up at the monster, her eyes widened in fear. She couldn’t risk Vastra’s life! Not for a case! Not even with her own life at stake…  
“Jenny!?”  
Vastra gently shook her and glanced into her eyes, seeing more fear pile up.  
Jenny… My love… You do not have to be scared… I will never leave… Please… Tell me what’s wrong…  
“T’s not workin’… Ain’t no perception filter there…”  
Jenny lied and tiredly sunk against Vastra’s chest. Vastra held her close, she could feel Jenny’s lie…  
With a satisfied grin the monster took a step back, let go of Jenny, for now at least.  
“GOOD HUMAN… LYING TO THE MADAME…”  
The monster’s voice fell quiet and slowly it merged with the shadows, and then it disappeared. Jenny let out a sob and held Vastra even closer.  
“What is going on with Miss Jenny? Is the boy having a defect? Should I scan him?”  
“No, Strax. That will not be necessary. Please take the gauntlet downstairs… It did not seem to lift the perception filter of whatever this was…”  
Vastra gently tried getting the gauntlet off Jenny’s clasped hand, which was more difficult than she thought, as Jenny was holding onto her quite firmly.  
Jenny, my love… Look up at me… Please… Let me take off the glove…  
Anxiously two brown eyes now stared up at her, Jenny was biting her lip to keep her sobs from escaping her lips. Slowly her hand relaxed, Vastra took off the glove and handed it Strax who immediately made his way downstairs with it.

“Jenny… What was going on, my love?”  
Vastra worriedly asked, placing one of her hands against Jenny’s cheek. The woman in front of her just closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.  
You don’t have to… say it… Just think it, my dearest Jenny…  
Once more, Jenny let out a tiny sob and cuddled into Vastra’s chest.  
With a sigh the Silurian just held her close, stroked Jenny’s back up and down, and tried calming down a little. Her worry for Jenny grew bigger and bigger, and the fear of losing Jenny tried taking her over.  
In front of her images appeared; images of Jenny falling asleep for one last time, not even saying goodbye. Images of Jenny dying during a fight. And finally, images of Jenny being torn apart by claws. Her claws. Everything went dark around Vastra, and when she looked down, there was no Jenny. Only her empty hands, full of blood.  
“JENNY!?”  
She screamed and let out a loud, pained whine.  
Vastra! I ain’t never leavin’ yer… Don’ be scared…  
Vastra’s eyes widened and she stared down at Jenny for a moment before smiling and resting her head back on Jenny’s again.  
It was all just a trick of her mind… Jenny was here and she would never leave. Jenny would stay with her.  
“’m sorry I lied to yer… I… It…”  
“No… Don’t apologise… You never need apologise to me, my love… I… You were… Trying to protect me, dearest… But we… We have to find out what this… This monster is plotting…”  
“I… Yeah…”  
Vastra let her hand run through Jenny’s hair and gave her a slight smile. Quietly she hummed a little melody and continued on caressing Jenny’s back.  
“Tis gone… The… The monster… I… I’m fine…”  
“For now… I… I don’t want to lose you, Jenny… Please… Tell me… Everything…”  
“I… Can’t… T’ll… T’ll ‘urt yer!”  
“Jenny! It will not! I can defend myself! Please! Tell me!”  
Vastra now shouted, her eyes reflecting her genuine fear for Jenny’s life. Her grasp tightened, Jenny let out a huff and Vastra immediately froze.  
“Did… Did I hurt you?? My love??”  
Quickly Jenny shook her head and placed a kiss on Vastra’s cheek, giving her a sad smile.  
“T’s for yer own good, Vastra…”  
“Jenny, please… I… I just want to help…”  
Vastra looked down, a sad laugh escaped her lips and she pulled Jenny closer. Burying her face in Jenny’s hair she mumbled excuses for her behaviour.  
“I am sorry… I did not intend to-…”  
“Vastra… T’s all me fault… I shoulda told yer… I…”  
Jenny’s gaze wandered through the room, she spotted the diary and reached for it.  
“Per’aps Billy wrote sum more stuff… Le’s see…”  
Vastra knew Jenny was trying to distract her, but besides how Jenny acted before, she seemed fine to Vastra right now…  
She did until Vastra took a closer look.  
Jenny was tiredly resting against her chest, Billy’s diary in her shaky hands. Her eyes were even more tired than before, dark circles under her eyes. More and more often she closed her eyes and forced them open again  
Quietly Vastra placed her hand on Jenny’s temple and gave Jenny more of her own strength, hoping it would help Jenny feel better, and just second after the young woman seemed more awake again. Now it was Vastra whose eyes closed every few seconds, but she tried pushing all her own needs aside and wrapped her arms around Jenny with an exhausted smile.  
Every now and then Jenny pointed at a specific paragraph that could contain more information, Vastra nodded approvingly and gave Jenny a kiss for each new paragraph, until Jenny started randomly pointing at the pages to receive more soft kisses.  
“You are a greedy little ape…”  
“’m not…”  
“You are right, my love… You are my greedy little ape, dearest…”  
“Better…”  
“So… Should we perhaps… Sit down for some tea?”  
Vastra suggested and gently brushed over Jenny’s cheek with her lips, Jenny let out a sigh of pleasure and closed her eyes, leaning closer.  
“Per’aps… We could… Enjoy… A lill longer… An’ then… Tea…”  
Vastra’s lips curled upwards as she placed more teasing kisses on Jenny’s cheeks, brushing over her skin, tilting her head slowly from one side to the other. She kept on playing this game until Jenny cupped her face and connected their lips for a long and passionate kiss during which Jenny ended up laying on top of Vastra.  
Now it was Jenny’s turn to tease, her warm fingers trailing over Vastra’s scales. She could feel the Silurian longing for more of those loving warm touches, and although the monster was still a present thought in her mind, she wanted to have this moment of being happy with Vastra, they both deserved this…  
“You… You enjoy this… My love…”  
“Yer… Enjoyin’ it as well, me darlin’…”  
Jenny muttered and leaned down to place a soft kiss on Vastra’s lips, the Silurian immediately craving for more and pulling Jenny down to hold her closer, hold her protectively in her arms during their shared moment of happiness.


	18. Shared sight

„Jenny? You should rest a little… You… Are tired, for sure…”  
Vastra mumbled as they were sitting in bed, Jenny was curled up in her lap, gazing upwards into the Silurian’s eyes. Every few seconds Jenny was closing her eyes, and when Vastra wanted to place her fingers on Jenny’s temples again, the young woman shook her head and sat back up. Immediately she held her head and tried hiding a yawn.  
“If you do not rest, at least let me… Give you my strength, my love…”  
The lizard held her wife closer, her scaled arms wrapped around her wife as protection. It wasn’t too warm in the room, not warm enough for Vastra to feel comfortable in any way, but she refused to put on her warmer nightgowns, and Jenny did not have the energy to argue with her exceptionally stubborn wife right now.  
So, Vastra was sitting there, in one of her short-sleeved gowns, holding Jenny close. She knew how much it soothed her wife to feel the soft scales against her warm skin, reassuring her that the lizard wouldn’t leave, no matter what, would always stay by her side.  
One of Vastra’s hands was playing with Jenny’s hair, softly gripping it, and letting it loose again. It was one of her favourite ways to keep herself down to earth, to not let her insecurities take her over. Again and again she quietly ran her hand through Jenny’s hair, until Jenny finally spoke, her voice was soft and quiet.  
“Vastra… I… I can’t rest… Becuz… Nightmares…”  
“My love… Oh, my dearest love… You… You have to rest… Otherwise you…”  
She gulped and held Jenny closer, taking a few deep breaths.  
“Otherwise it might… Cause harm to you, my sweetest love…”  
“But I can’t! I… I jus’ can’t sleep! If I do, I gotta see yer die again! An’ I don’ wan’ that! I… I can’t… It feels so real an’… I don’ wanna lose yer…”  
A tear ran down her cheek, and Vastra quickly wiped it away and placed soft kisses on Jenny’s cheek, hoping it would ease her wife’s fears a little.  
“Then let me give you my strength, dear… I do not need it… You, my sweet Jenny, are the one needing it most right now… So, please… Let me give it to you…”  
Vastra’s blue eyes desperately glanced at Jenny, waiting for her response, her hands already close to Jenny’s temples. When she now nodded, Vastra pressed her fingers against Jenny’s head and audibly exhaled a few times, visibly becoming weaker and weaker with every breath while Jenny felt more and more awake again.  
“Vastra… Stop…”  
Jenny whispered as her wife was tiredly resting her head on hers, feeble pants escaping her green lips, but she didn’t stop, refused to stop, wanted to give up everything she had for Jenny.  
“Vastra! Stop!”  
Jenny now yelled in panic, trying to back away from her wife who now sunk to the bed and gave Jenny a poor excuse of a smile.  
“I… made you stronger…”  
She mumbled and sat back up, supporting herself with shaky arms, her eyes closing more and more often.  
Idiot… Yer… Yer can’t jus’ do that, Vastra!  
Jenny yelled in Vastra’s head, making the lizard open her eyes immediately, glancing up at her wife, guilt overwhelming her. Slowly her mouth opened a little, but the voice Jenny heard didn’t come from Vastra’s mouth, she heard her wife directly in her head.  
I was… trying to help, my love…  
“I… I know, but… Yer can’t jus’ go on givin’ me yer power… Look after yerself first!”  
But I love you! I… would do anything I can for you, my love!  
Vastra’s voice now complained in her head, the lizard just gazing up weakly, yet a small smile curled her lips as she lifted her hand to place it against Jenny’s cheek.  
So… warm…  
“Yeah, yeah… If you woulda listened, yer wouln’t be freezin’ now… Blimey, yer as stubborn as a Sontaran sumtimes…”  
Jenny mumbled and placed her own hand on top of Vastra’s, leaning into the touch of the cold scaled hand.  
Excuse me, my love?  
“Yeah? Go’ any problem wif me comparison?”  
Jenny gave Vastra a slight grin and ran her hand over Vastra’s cool scales, the lizard started purring a little at the warm touches.  
Plenty, dear… Hmmmm… You are so warm…  
Even her thoughts trailed off now, slowly she moved closer to Jenny, her head placed in Jenny’s lap.  
“Yer need more ‘eat… Come ‘ere… Le’s sit by the fire…”  
Jenny got up from the bed, and before she was standing, she could already hear weak hisses and growls behind her back. When she turned around, Vastra reached for her with both her hands.  
Don’t leave me! Please, my Jenny!  
She begged and stared at her wife with anxiously widened eyes, slowly crawling closer to her, and even while desperately wanting her wife close, she still managed to hide her claws. As it was quite dark in the room, only the remains of a fire throwing light into the room, Jenny couldn’t see Vastra’s claws.  
With a soft smile Jenny scooped her up and carried her to the fire, placing her down. Before she went to get a blanket, she gave the Silurian a soft kiss on her forehead and reassured her once more she wouldn’t leave her.  
Once Jenny had returned and wrapped them both in the warm blanket, she held Vastra close and let her nuzzle into her chest, soon feeling her own heartbeat matching her wife’s.  
“Vastra… Yer tired?”  
Quickly the lizard shook her head and glanced up, a little yawn escaped her lips. The whole time Vastra held her hands close to her own chest, clenching them into fists so it wasn’t possible for Jenny to spot her declawed hands.  
I cannot rest, my love… Then I could not… keep up the psychic link! And… I can’t leave you alone… I won’t! Never, my dearest heart!  
“Vastra… Yer gotta rest… Yer can’t jus’ gimme all yer power, please… I… I will be… fine…”  
Jenny mumbled and brought her hand up to her face to rub her eyes. Sand was coming out, more than ever before. She threw a glance around, noticing only her and Vastra were here, no sign of the monster anywhere near, and let out a sigh of relief.  
Is… Is it still hurting you?  
“Who?”  
The monster… Or… Whatever it was. Is it still hurting you, my love? Do you need more of my strength?  
Weakly she glanced up, so much love and concern in her eyes, Jenny turned her head away and stared to the ground before looking back at Vastra again.  
“Yer can’t do that, me darlin’…”  
Indeed, I can, my sweet…  
Vastra’s lips formed a feeble smile, and her eyes closed slowly. Seconds later she forced them open and wrapped her arms around Jenny. The blanket had slipped off her shoulders and she immediately shivered a little. Jenny carefully placed it around her wife’s shoulders again and then rested her hand against Vastra’s cheek.  
“Yer can rest… ‘m sure I can manage… Imma jus’ stay awake, watch over yer an’… An’ not fall asleep, yeah?”  
I will not leave you, my Jenny! I will not rest until I am sure you are feeling fine, love…  
Even though she was weakened right now, Vastra’s persistence could not be undermined by anything Jenny would say to her. She only had to sit with her for a bit, soon she’d feel better again.  
Gently Jenny trailed her fingers over Vastra’s scaled face, drew invisible lines on it, admired the many different shades of green in her wife’s face. Every now and then she placed a soft kiss on Vastra’s cheeks or forehead. The soft smile on Vastra’s lips, as well as the loving gaze in her eyes calmed Jenny, letting her know that even though Vastra must have given a great amount of her own strength to her, she was feeling fine and happy, helping her wife.

Hours later they were still sitting in front of the fire, now nothing more than a few gleaming pieces of coal. Quietly Jenny glanced down at her wife who was resting against her chest with half closed eyes, purring softly.  
“Vastra?”  
She now asked and brought her hand up to Vastra’s cheek, the lizard’s purring intensifying as Jenny’s warm fingers touched her. While leaning into the balmy touch, she looked up and her loving smile widened.  
“’ow do yer feel? Cold? But… Stronger?”  
“A… A little cold, my dearest… But you are warming me up from the inside with your beautiful smile, your… loving eyes and… your soft touches, sweetest…”  
Vastra mumbled, her voice a little shaky. Jenny being the only source of heat for her in the room, she snug closer and nuzzled into her wife’s chest.  
“Lemme get up, imma light a fire fer yer… So yer warm up pro’erly…”  
Gradually Jenny got up, left her lizard wife wrapped in the blanket, and got some logs for the fire. With a quiet hiss Vastra pulled the blanket over her head and lay down, trying to soak up the bit of heat still remaining on the spot Jenny had been sitting on.  
“Back in a minute, me darlin’… Don’ worry, I… I ain’t leavin’ yer…”  
She stopped in between words, reached up to her head and held it, ridding her eyes from sand once more. With every second she started feeling sleepier again.  
Alarmed Vastra sat back up, letting out another hiss when chilly air hit her face, and crawled towards Jenny, wrapped her arms and the blanket around her.  
“Jenny, my love? What is wrong?”  
“Nuffin’…”  
“No, something is wrong, I… I can feel it…”  
“Le’s jus’ ‘eat the fire, yeah?”  
Jenny pressed and placed the logs in the fireplace, kindling them, and soon soft light was warming the room again. In silence Jenny sat with Vastra, holding her close, warming her up. Every now and then she let out a soft pant and threw gazes across the room, always expecting to see the monster again.  
Jenny…  
As soon as the young woman heard her wife’s voice in her head, she stared down at her with widened eyes, taking a few seconds to realise they were alone in the room.  
“What is going on, my love? Please, tell me… Do… Do you need more power, dear!? I… I can-…”  
“No! Vastra… ‘m fine… Jus’… Le’s jus’ cuddle an’ stuff…”  
With a slight nod Vastra agreed, and both got up to sit in bed again, it was much more comfortable than the wooden floor. In bed Vastra cuddled against Jenny’s chest again, taking long, deep breaths. Her wife’s intoxicating scent sent a shiver through the lizard’s body, made her smile happily.

For a while, the two were cuddling, Vastra slowly ran one of her hands through Jenny’s hair, played with it, and Jenny trailed over her wife’s scales again and again, placing a soft kiss on her forehead every now and then. They talked a little, Vastra told her about one of the books she read recently and how there were some paragraphs she marked to write them down for her love. Slowly and not entirely sure she knew all of it, she started citing part of a poem to Jenny, her forehead resting against Jenny’s.  
“For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;  
With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,  
For one is both and both are one in love…”  
A soft smile on her lips Jenny shushed her and gave the lizard a soft kiss, then she continued citing the poem, leaving her wife stunned.  
“Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine…”  
Together they finished it now, gazing into each other’s eyes while speaking.  
“Both have the strength and both the length thereof,  
Both of us, of the love which makes us one.”  
Fondly Jenny placed her hand on Vastra’s cheek and gave her another kiss, then looked her deep in the eyes. A blush appeared on both their cheeks and they started laughing.  
“When I read this, I could only think of you, my sweet Jenny… How do you know this poem, love?”  
“Well… Cleanin’ last week I mighta… Uh… borrowed… one of yer books an’… Was curious wot the sheet of paper was innit fer… Well, ended up readin’ the poem an’ it reminded me of yer a lot… Me darlin’…”  
Vastra raised an eyebrow, but before she could start complaining, she let out a long yawn and nuzzled into Jenny’s lap. She could hear her wife laugh at her behaviour, but instead of protesting she nudged her with her head and let out a demanding purr. Seconds after warm fingers caressed her green scales and she leaned into the warm touch, purring quietly.  
“You… seem to feel better, my dearest…”  
“I am… Jus’ talkin’ with yer, cuddlin’ ‘elped a lot…”  
“I’m glad… I love you, Jenny…”  
“Love yer too, Vastra…”  
She whispered and leaned down, placed a soft kiss on her wife’s forehead.

A little later, all of the sudden Jenny’s whole body tensed up, she pulled Vastra closer and stared at something in the room, frightened. Worried Vastra followed Jenny’s gaze, but the room was empty, she couldn’t see anything.  
‘elp…  
She suddenly heard her wife’s voice in her head and sat back up, facing Jenny.  
“Jenny, what is it!? My love! Is… Is it… forcing you to sleep?”  
“SLEEP! FOR A LONG TIME! GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY!”  
The monster demanded and slowly came closer, leaving the invisible sand everywhere on the floor, Jenny could hear its footsteps as it came closer, making her shudder in fear.  
“Jenny! Let me sense what you sense… Please, my love! If… If you grant me permission, I… I can help! I will save you from it, my heart… Trust me…”  
Vastra whispered and placed her fingertips on Jenny’s temples, waiting for her to do the same. She could feel the shaky hands leave her back and they slowly wandered up to Vastra’s head, tracing the way up, as if Jenny were afraid Vastra would disappear as soon as Jenny stopped touching her.  
“OH! YOU WILL NOT!”  
“Yes… Please, Vastra… We… We can do tis together, right?”  
Jenny asked, her voice interrupted every now and then by a little sob, and she glared at the monster coming closer for barely a split second before her eyes found Vastra’s again, and the lizard opened her eyes. Massive amounts of fear were in her blue eyes, painfully she tried hiding them, but there was also love. Love for Jenny, concern for her wellbeing. A sly smile appeared on the young woman’s lips as she saw that and she pressed her fingertips against Vastra’s scaled temples, they both took a deep breath, and as they exhaled the monster started screaming angered.  
“YOU CAN’T! FOOLISH HUMAN!”  
Immediately Vastra flinched and turned around, glaring up at the monster that dared hurt and frighten her wife.  
When the Silurian got up to stand tall in front of the monster, Jenny anxiously clung to her arm, her fingernails digging into Vastra’s scales, fortunately not able to hurt the lizard through her hard Silurian exoskeleton.  
“I… I can see you… And hear you… Leave her alone!”  
Vastra reached for her nightstand, quickly opened it, and grabbed a device. When she now pointed it at the monster in front of her, a high-pitched whirring came from the apparatus in the Silurian’s hands, and the monster stumbled backwards.  
“WHAT HAVE YOU DOOOONE!?”  
“Vastra…”  
Jenny cried out and held her wife closer than before, pulling her back onto the bed, both her arms now wrapped around Vastra’s body in fear, longing for protection.  
Gently Vastra placed one arm around Jenny and purred a little to calm her wife down, and softly kissed her forehead.  
“I disabled its ability to hide… And… To walk through physical objects… It cannot escape…”  
“But… We’re trapped wif it! Ain’t we!?”  
“Calm down, my love… I… That way we can… Find out some information about its plans… And… Perhaps I can save you by destroying it, my dearest…”  
Vastra mumbled and got back up, one of her hands still holding Jenny’s, and when Jenny let out a soft whine, she turned back to her with a soft smile, trying to push all her own insecurities away.  
“I won’t leave, my sweet… And… If… If you need… Any power… Take it from me, yes? I will keep you awake, keep the monster from hurting you, my Jenny!”  
“YOU CAN’T SAVE HER, LIZARD WOMAN! THE HUMAN IS DOOMED!”  
The monster screeched and tried approaching Vastra, but the Silurian immediately grabbed another device and held it up, glaring at the monster with rage in her eyes.  
“You will not attack us! Neither me nor Jenny! Or else… I will kill you with this… I will kill you, end your life with this, and then Jenny will be fine again… I just… I just have to get rid of you!”  
Her voice got louder and louder, her eyes had darkened and her heartbeat was at quite a high rate. Fearing for Jenny’s life made her forget even what she just said seconds ago, about finding out information, the only thing she wanted to do now was tear the monster into shreds, blow it up, get rid of it somehow to save her Jenny.  
“Vastra!”  
Jenny gasped and her grip tightened, she shook her head at her wife’s sudden urge to kill.  
“This is for your good, Jenny! The faster I get rid of this… Thing, the faster I can save you… The faster we… Save everyone…”  
Vastra stuttered and her gaze lowered to the device in her hand. She could end this creature right here, or at least try to, and get rid of her wife’s nightmares.  
“TRY IT, LIZARD! BUT YOU CANNOT KILL ME WITH THIS, I HAVE OTHER WAYS OF SURVIVING…”  
The device fell to the ground, and so did Vastra, sinking to her knees, still staring at the device in shock.  
“Vastra?”  
Jenny quietly asked and tugged her arm a little. Seeing Vastra so determined to kill, it scared her, made her wonder how far Vastra would go for her, what she would do then. What if she… liked the killing? Started liking it? Would Jenny be able to convince her to stop it? Or would she be torn to shreds just like any other of Vastra’s victims??  
Jenny…  
Vastra’s soft voice suddenly sounded in her head, and she held her breath, only now noticing how fast she had been breathing.  
Vastra…  
She quietly replied and as her wife’s head appeared on the side of the bed, a smile curled Jenny’s lips and she let out a relieved sigh.  
I would never… Never hurt you, my love. And I will not kill it yet. We can gain useful information from it, perhaps…  
Approvingly Jenny nodded and as Vastra sat down on the bed, she leaned her head against her chest, trying not to close her eyes.  
“SLEEP!”  
“NO!”  
Vastra shouted angrily and pressed her fingers against the human’s temples in panic, gave her more of her own power, until Jenny sat up and shook her hands off.  
“’m fine, Vastra… Don’ worry…”  
“But it-…”  
Vastra started as she supported herself with both her arms, and Jenny cut her off.  
“I got yer… An’ I ain’t fallin’ asleep that easily… Now… Let’s get to askin’ it sum questions, hu?”  
Slowly the lizard nodded, her lips brushed over Jenny’s cheek briefly, and she glanced at the monster while getting a notebook out to quickly scribble down some questions she wanted answers for.


	19. Interrogation

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, LIZARD? DIDN’T YOU WANT TO… KIIIIILL ME?”  
Vastra let out a growl and held Jenny closer, glancing down at her shaky handwriting.  
“My love? Are you alright? Look at me, dearest…”  
She quietly mumbled and gently placed one of her hands on Jenny’s chin, waiting for her to move her head to face her.  
As Jenny now looked up, fear still infested in her eyes, a soft smile curled the Silurian’s lips and she placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead.  
“I will save you, my Jenny… You and all the other people this monster is hurting…”  
“Vastra… Yer don’ ‘ave to do tis alone… ‘m wif yer an’… An’ Strax surely will ‘elp… Blowin’ sumthin’ up will make ‘im ‘appy… Please… Don’… Don’ fight it alone, I don’ wanna lose yer!”  
Jenny dug her fingernails in the soft material of Vastra’s clothes, holding her tight, afraid of losing her.  
And although the monster was quiet, surprisingly quiet on that matter, Jenny couldn’t stop thinking about the terrible nightmares this monster had given her, was still trying to give her. Apparently, it knew all about her biggest fears, using them against her. She couldn’t let Vastra fight this monster alone, but what could she do?  
Whenever she had tried fighting it back, it threatened to endanger her wife’s life, using Jenny’s biggest strength, turning it into her biggest weakness.  
Jenny, my dearest…  
Vastra’s voice quietly hummed in the younger woman’s head, and a cool hand brushed over her cheek, through her hair and back over her cheek again.  
“’m fine…”  
“You are not… I… I know it… But I am telling you, my love, you don’t have to fear anything, I am here and this monster won’t be able to separate us…”  
Just as Jenny wanted to say something, a scaled finger was placed on her lips, and she gazed up into her wife’s eyes. Such strength was in them, even though Vastra had just given Jenny a great amount of her own strength so Jenny wouldn’t fall asleep because of the monster. When she looked deeper, took a closer look, the young human could spot fear. It was well hidden underneath all of Vastra’s other emotions, the love she held for her wife, but Jenny could still see it, feel it. Deep inside she wanted nothing more than keeping Jenny safe, shielding her against all evil, and just live a peaceful life together with her.  
“THINK AGAIN, LIZARD!”  
The monster shouted and came one step closer, Jenny immediately started shaking and buried her face in Vastra’s chest, she let out a soft whine.  
Vastra took a few deep breaths as she felt the monster’s aura telling Jenny to sleep, wanting to force her. It affected her as well, but instead of making her tired, anger boiled up inside her, and she got up, one hand resting on Jenny’s shoulder to assure her she wouldn’t leave and give her something to hold onto.  
“Where do you come from?”  
The monster remained silent; its empty eyeholes fixed on Jenny the whole time. Vastra could feel her wife shaking, and she looked down lovingly.  
My love… Hey… Look at me, concentrate on me, dearest Jenny…  
I… Yeah… ‘m jus’… So scared it might… ‘urt yer…  
It will not… Trust me, my sweet…  
Vastra reassured her and ran her hand through Jenny’s hair gently before placing her hand back on her shoulder. A angered glare met the monster’s eyeholes.  
“Where do you come from? Answer me.”  
Her voice sounding more impatient, Vastra repeated the question. The monster in front of her turned its head a little to face Jenny, and she let out a quiet whine.  
“Leave her alone…”  
The Silurian snarled as her tongue flicked through the air as a warning, and she stepped in front of Jenny to shield her from the monster’s eyes.  
“Where are you from!? Answer me!”  
She shouted again, only receiving a faint laughter in return. The monster’s behaving angered Vastra, but she couldn’t just go on and kill it, could she?  
Two shaking hands reached for Vastra and pulled on her dress, desperately begging for her to stay close, giving her concerns an opportunity to try and swallow her. Silently she closed her eyes and gulped, tried to push all her fear down again before sitting down on the bed. Gently she placed her head down on Jenny’s and stroked over her cheek, hoping she could stop the anxious trembling of her wife.  
“I WILL NOT ANSWER TO A LIZARD WHO WALKS THE EARTH OUT OF HER TIME!”  
The monster now screeched as it reached out for Vastra with its ugly mouth grimacing a wide and evil grin, its hand aiming for the lizard’s neck.  
“L… Leave her… Please…”  
Jenny suddenly mumbled and glanced at the sand monster, a pleading expression on her face. Vastra’s breath sped up and she pulled Jenny even closer, scared of what she might do to protect her wife.  
“You said you do not answer to me? Will you answer to her?”  
Glancing down at the sandy hand close to her neck, Vastra spoke, still trying to comfort Jenny as much as possible.  
The monster didn’t pay her any attention, it reached down for Jenny and strove to pull her away from Vastra, away from her protection.  
“Don’t you dare touch her!”  
Vastra yelled in panic, pulled back and fired the weapon she had in her hands earlier at the monster’s arm. Part of it crumbled away, fell on the bed, on the floor. With a pained scream the creature pulled back, angrily glaring at Vastra.  
“It is working… Answer me or I will fire it again!”  
Rage was burning inside Vastra’s eyes as she now got up, full of confidence she would bring this monster to justice for what it was doing to Jenny. Being able to hurt it, to kill it if necessary, it gave Vastra security. She knew this could safe her wife, save her right now.  
Slowly she pointed the weapon at the monster again, aiming for its head this time. Her breath was fast, and so was her heart, as she was picturing this beast laying dead on the floor, crumbling away, setting her wife and all the other victims free. A vengeful smile curled her lips as her eyes darkened even more, seeming almost black in the dim light of the room.  
“NO! YOU CAN’T KILL ME, LIZARD!”  
“Oh, yes… I can…”  
Her voice was dangerously quiet, and Jenny froze, gazed at her reptilian wife, then the monster, and then back again.  
“I WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS! LOWER THE WEAPON!”  
“WHY SHOULD I!? I… I can save Jenny in the matter of seconds with it! I… I will kill you!”  
Both her hands had started shaking the slightest bit as she tried concentrating on the monster’s head, aiming a little lower to shoot right through its supposed heart. Under her breath the Silurian warrior let out a whisper.  
“Prepare to die…”  
Jenny’s eyes jumped back at the monster, and as she saw the horrid mouth curl into a slight smile, she got up, flung her arms around Vastra and knocked the device out of the lizard’s hand.  
“Vastra… No!”  
The Silurian let out a loud hiss, but as she felt the young woman’s warm arms around her, her body pressed against hers, her hissing and growling fell quiet, her eyes went back to their natural colour, and she placed both her hands on Jenny’s back.  
Before she could start to speak, a loud rusty laughter filled the room, it came from the monster in front of them.  
“YOU ARE WEAK, LIZARD! LET YOURSELF GET DISTRACTED BY A HUMAN!”  
Vastra’s eyes rested on Jenny who slowly sank to the ground. Completely ignoring the monster in the room, she picked her up and placed her back in bed, brushed over her cheek with a worried smile.  
“Jenny, I’m sorry… I… I was… Angry… And…”  
As she saw Jenny’s eyes closing more and more often, the anger she had just tried letting go of raged up again, and she turned to face the monster. In a few fast steps she was standing in front of it, and punched it right into its horrid face.  
“Leave Jenny alone! Do what you want to me, but leave her!”  
Vastra…  
The lizard heard a voice in her head, and she backed away from the monster. For a few seconds her eyes were facing the floor, then she slowly shook her head and let out a sigh.  
“Why the apes? There’s so many species out there…”  
While speaking she took a few more steps back, carefully taking Jenny’s hand and brushing over it with her thumb. In her head she could already feel Jenny drifting in and out of sleep. It was tempting to give her more of her own power, but the lizard knew she couldn’t last much longer if she did. Jenny was free to take it when she needed it. Deep inside Vastra knew Jenny would not forgive her sacrificing herself, she would be angry and disappointed and shout at her, and yet Vastra wanted it. Wanted Jenny to be awake and lively enough to shout at her, to scold her for her stupidity.  
And finally, the monster spoke.  
“THEY’RE PERFECT AS HOSTS FOR NOW. WE LOST OUR STRENGTH, BUT IT WILL BE REGAINED! THE HUMAN RACE WILL BE THE TRANSMITTER THROUGHOUT THE GALAXIES! AND THEN THE GREAT MASTER WILL RISE AGAIN!”  
Vastra tilted her head, finally she understood. This monster planned to use the energy, the negative energy created when having nightmares to transmit its signal. But with only one of those beasts left this plan was doomed to fail, and Vastra knew that.  
She knew what it meant to be the only one of her kind, her plans would have gone into a similar direction if she hadn’t met the Doctor. Taking out the human race, regaining her planet… Fighting for her cause or dying. That was what she had believed to be her choice.  
A sad chuckle came from Vastra as she thought about that. Both, Jenny and the monster, eyed her, Jenny concerned, the monster confused.  
“You are the last one left. The only one. You are far too weakened… And… And can’t actually attack anyone… This… All of this… Is costing you your power, isn’t it? You are using apes to survive? I know that from somewhere…”  
Another sad laugh, Vastra got back up. Slowly her hand slipped out of Jenny’s, and she got closer to the monster, finally looking up, her eyes cold. She understood now, the monster was all alone, desperately trying to send a signal, to change something. Oh, this irony that she now was the one giving it a choice.  
What could it do? It was all alone. Either it thought about its actions, stopped harming humans, and Jenny in particular, or it would not and Vastra would kill it in the matter of seconds. Wasn’t this so ironically similar to her own situation years back?  
“What’s the point? Of all this? You will die soon, won’t you? Terrorising apes… Will not help you. You have the choice to either go on like this, taking possibly a few of the apes with you, angering their families and loved ones, or you can change… Choose another path. Live in peace, adapt.”  
Jenny sat up, feeling the monster’s influence was getting weaker, and stared at Vastra. These words. The way she was speaking them, they didn’t quite fit her… Was this what the Doctor had said to her when he saved her life? Was that the choice Vastra had to make?  
A tear rolled down Jenny’s cheek as she imagined what must’ve happened that the Doctor was confronting her with such a harsh choice… How different was Vastra back then? And how far had she come from that? The urge to get up and comfort her wife was overwhelming, however, Jenny felt this was something she shouldn’t interfere.

All of the sudden the door swung open and Strax ran in, his laser gun ready to fire, three pairs of eyes stared at him.  
“There you are! My devices picked up a very strange reading coming from up here! I readied my laser gun after minutes of deciding which weapon I should pick… Eventually a coin decided it… But I didn’t like the choice, so I took the other one… ANYWAYS! I am looking forward to obliterating this enemy! You and the boy might or might not lose an arm or a leg, which is just minor collateral damage.”  
“Strax!”  
Vastra called out, shaking her head. Quickly she walked over to him, and ripped the weapon from his hands.  
“You will not use that inside… Especially not if you might-…”  
Vastra froze. Her psychic link to Jenny was gone.  
“Jenny!”  
The laser gun slipped from her hands and she ran over to the bed, kneeling down beside it, staring down at Jenny’s sleeping face with her eyes wide in shock.  
“Jenny, wake up… Jenny… I… How could I be so careless… I…”  
She rested her head against Jenny’s chest with closed eyes, blaming herself for letting down her guard, being distracted and letting the monster take advantage of that.  
The monster! Right!  
Just as the Silurian lifted her head, she could see it run towards the door, push Strax aside, he stumbled over his gun and fell, cursing Sontaran cusses.  
“Strax! Follow this monster! Don’t let it get away!”  
“Yes, ma’am!”  
Strax got up, grabbed his laser gun and with a loud “SONTAR-HA!” he followed the beast now heading out of Paternoster Row, out into the cold night.


	20. Visions of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra is desperate to find out more about the monster and how she can get rid of it. Meanwhile, Jenny is caught up in her nightmare again.

Minutes after Strax had left, Vastra was still sitting next to the bed, anxiously staring at her wife. Painful flashbacks to how afraid Jenny was the last time she had fallen asleep appeared in Vastra’s mind, and with a wince she buried her head in Jenny’s chest, quietly sobbing and stuttering excuse after excuse.

Jenny was standing alone, in the dark. Something was off, this wasn’t her home. Hesitantly she took a few steps forward into an unknown yet oddly familiar street. Looking around she spotted a shadow a few houses away. The shadow belonged to someone she knew quite well, it being the silhouette of a reptilian head. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she ran towards it, slowing down as she came closer. Yes, it was Vastra, but she was fighting someone.  
Two people, to be precise, and they both looked rather strong. Jenny stumbled backwards and bumped into someone, she fell to the ground and let out a gasp as she looked up. A tall woman with black hair in a neat braid was standing there, glaring down at her with her piercing ice blue eyes. In her hand she held a sharp sword, and her eyes wandered from Jenny to the sword and back again.  
Searching the ground for anything she could use as a weapon, Jenny crawled backwards in the hope to find something she could defend herself with.  
“Trying to get away from me? Trust me, you can’t escape…”  
The woman told her and swung her sword through the air to show off how experienced she was with her weapon.  
“D… Don’ ‘urt me…”  
Jenny begged and finally, her hand touched something she might be able to use as a weapon. Hoping to surprise her opponent, she threw a few rocks at her, and with the rusty blade she just picked up in her hand, she got up and held the sword in front of her, ready to fight.  
“You really think you can defeat me?”  
Their fight was short, the woman was about two heads taller than Jenny and very trained and muscular, something she kept well hidden under her loose clothes. Jenny found herself smashed against the wall, close to losing consciousness only after a few seconds.  
With a big grin her enemy kneeled down and tied her arms together behind her back, then did the same to her legs and with one more punch in Jenny’s ribs she left her laying in the dirt, picked up her sword and stepped away into the direction Strax’ voice was coming from. Apparently, he was fighting someone again and had lost his atomiser.  
Jenny was panting heavily, her eyes nearly closed, when suddenly she heard Strax scream in pain, only for his screams to fall silent shortly after. The young woman was ripped back into reality by it, and she looked around, found a piece of the broken rusty sword she had tried defending herself with, and desperately tried getting the ropes off her hands and feet. Harder than she expected, and while she was still busy trying to free herself, steps came closer. Quickly she hid the weapon and shut her eyes, but as the steps stopped, she opened one of her eyes and it widened in shock.  
Her opponent was wiping blood off her sword, and now she was standing at the entry of the street Vastra was still fighting in. Her eyes seemed intrigued by the fight, and when she lifted her hand, the sound of sword clashing against each other vanished.  
“Go! Leave her to me…”  
The woman now mumbled, loud enough for Jenny to hear. Tears of fear and anger rose up inside her, and she tried cutting through her ropes faster.  
“Who are you!? What have you done to Jenny!?”  
That was Vastra’s voice. The fury in her voice and the flick of her tongue echoed through the street.  
“Don’t worry. You will be together again… In death!”  
“You… You… K… Killed her…!”  
Jenny felt like she could hear her wife’s heart shatter in this moment. As if she could feel her pain, and her own fear took control of her, tears forcing their way out as she heard the sound of sword fighting again.  
She had to get those ropes off! Now! And save Vastra!  
The loud hisses and pants in between weren’t a good sign. Vastra had gone wild, caught up in her anger, her biggest fear coming true, having to lose Jenny.  
Finally, the ropes fell to the ground, and Jenny got up, hurdled to the street Vastra was fighting in.  
“Vastra…!”  
She gasped as she saw her there, no sword in her hands, her shoulders rose and fell quickly, again and again her tongue flicked through the air, coming dangerously close to the woman fighting her.  
“Vastra!”  
Jenny yelled again, and this time, her wife turned around, surprise and confusion in her face, then a relieved smile.  
“You are o-AHHHHH!”  
While she was talking, the woman took advantage of her being distracted, and attacked, leaving a mark on Vastra’s chest. With a pained scream she fell to the ground and held her chest with one hand, the other shakingly reaching out for Jenny.  
Jenny stood there, in shock. Her eyes were wide and her mouth opened.  
“My job is done…”  
The woman stated as she let her blade fall down next to Vastra.  
The lizard’s eyes were fixed on Jenny, her hand shaking more with every second.  
Finally, Jenny ran towards her, tears already streaming down her cheeks, and she kneeled down next to Vastra, carefully pulling her in her lap.  
“Vastra… No… Don’ leave me! Please… I…”  
“Shh… Je-… Jenny…”  
Vastra made and reached up, placed her hand against Jenny’s cheek and gave her a weak smile.  
“D-… Don’t cry…”  
Jenny bit her lip and her eyes glanced at Vastra’s wound. Her clothes around the wound were already stained in red, and the colour from the Silurian’s face was quickly fading.  
“We can fix tis! We… We can fix tis! I am not gonna let yer die! Yer ain’t dyin’! I… I won’t let yer!”  
Her shouting got more and more desperate, and soon turned into sobs and begs for Vastra to stay, to not leave her behind. In panic she ripped her sleeve and tried to stop more blood from seeping from her wound. It was a lethal one, it went from Vastra’s left shoulder to the right side of her waist, and Jenny pressing her sleeve on it only made her wince in pain.  
“Please… Jenny… My love… Don’t… Don’t press it… It… It hurts…”  
Vastra’s weak voice reached her ears, and Jenny stared down at her hands, now full of Vastra’s blood.  
This was all her fault! Because she couldn’t fight this woman, because she was weak! And… Because she distracted Vastra afterwards… Her wife would have killed the woman, would have fought till the end, but as Jenny had shouted her name, Vastra, relieved to hear her voice once more, turned around, let her guard down!  
Her breath speeded up and frantic sobs escaped her lips.  
“’m sorry! ‘m so sorry!!! Tis all me fault! I-“  
“N- No…”  
Vastra pressed and her hand grabbed part Jenny’s hair, a faint smile forming on her lips.  
“P- Please… Don’t… Don’t leave… Stay… Until… The end… My… Love…”  
“No! No end! We’re still ‘ere! Yer can’t leave me! Don’ do tis! Please… Jus’… Le’s get back ‘ome an’… An’ we… gonna take care of yer wounds an’-…”  
Another sob escaped her lips, and hot tears fell down on Vastra’s face. Her scales were barely a light green anymore, and even her blue eyes seemed to lose their colour with every second passing.  
“We… We can… Call for ‘elp! The Docta! ‘e will save yer! Imma go an’ get ‘im!”  
Jenny wanted to get up, desperate to find a solution to this, to save Vastra somehow. To save herself somehow! Her heart couldn’t take losing Vastra! That wasn’t how it was supposed to be! They would be together till the end! Till they both died, together… Because they grew old, not because of a fight! This was not how it was supposed to end!  
“No-… Stay…”  
Vastra whispered and held Jenny in a firm grip, her eyes closing slowly, but she forced them back open to face Jenny once more.  
“Jenny… I love you… Stay…”  
“I… I love you, too! Don’ yer dare leave me ‘ere… Not alone… Please… Don’ do tis to me… I… I can’t… I can’t live… like tis… without yer…”  
“Cold…”  
Vastra mumbled and rolled up in Jenny’s lap, trying to warm her dying body, and her hand was reaching up to wipe the tears from her wife’s cheeks.  
“No! NO! I… Imma get yer back ‘ome! There tis warm!”  
Immediately Jenny tried scooping Vastra up, but the lizard whined in pain and shook her head.  
“Stay… Here… Not… Move… My dearest…”  
“No… I don’ wanna lose yer… Is… Isn’t there… Anythin’ I can do!?”  
With a soft smile and half closed eyes, Vastra nodded slowly, then let out a pant and Jenny immediately let out a loud gasp of despair. Then she placed both her hands on Vastra’s cheeks to try and warm her up, her brown eyes interlocked with the Silurian’s.  
“Wot… Can I do… Tell me, I’ll do anythin’…”  
“K-kiss me… My love… One… One last time…”  
“No, nonono… Tis… Tis won’t be our last, don’ yer dare say that… Stupid lizard!”  
She shouted as more tears ran down her cheeks and dripped on Vastra’s face. Both of Jenny’s hands were trembling, as well as her whole body.  
“Please… One… Kiss… All… I want… My dearest heart…”  
Jenny opened her mouth to protest, but her words got stuck in her throat, and she leaned down. Gently she placed her lips on Vastra’s, shocked by how cold they were, and when she wanted to pull away, two strong hands held her close, didn’t allow her to let go, to break the kiss.  
Her whole face covered in tears Jenny now passionately, desperately, pressed her lips on Vastra’s, held her close, never wanted to let go.  
Then, no more hands were holding her tight. Her wife’s grasp loosened, and Jenny froze. She was gone. Vastra was gone.  
“Vastra?”  
Jenny quietly asked after staring at her closed eyes for a few seconds, her hand placed on Vastra’s cold, lifeless cheek.  
“Open yer eyes… Look at me… Please…”  
A faint whisper escaped her lips before she sunk down, Vastra’s body pressed against her own. She didn’t care that blood was soaking into her dress. With loud and despairing cries she begged Vastra to wake up again, but whatever she said, the lizard’s eyes remained closed. Forever.

Vastra had gotten most of her utensils for analysing the sand the monster had left behind up to her room, so she could stay close to her sleeping wife who was crying in her sleep. It hurt Vastra, seeing this, but she couldn’t help her… Before, she had tried to comfort her for at least 15 minutes, she had cried and begged for Jenny to wake up, and her rage towards the monster had blazed up again.  
She would kill it, no matter what. She would get Jenny back from it, and rescue her!  
“Jenny?”  
The Silurian whispered into the room as she sat down next to her with a probe of the sand the monster had left behind and the sand Jenny had collected from other victims. As Vastra had disabled the monster’s perception filter, she was now able to see the sand as well.  
With the help of some devices she and Strax had developed, Vastra could analyse the molecular structure of the monster’s body, and then search for a way to destroy it. While the machines were working, whirring, and humming, Vastra glanced over at Jenny again, and eventually she crawled close and wrapped her arms around Jenny.  
Now laying next to her, she tried to force a slight smile and let out a sigh.  
“You do not deserve to suffer like this, my love… I will destroy this monster, whatever the cost… And you won’t have nightmares anymore… Yes, Jenny? If only I could wake you somehow…”  
She let out a sniffle and shook her head before nuzzling into Jenny’s hair. Of course, Vastra had tried giving Jenny her own energy, but it had only resulted in Vastra feeling weaker than before, and Jenny’s tears getting more and more.  
Gently she ran one hand down Jenny’s back, placed soft kisses on her cheeks and tried to violently push down all her fears. Just when she was leaning close for another kiss, her machine made a “Ding” sound and Vastra shrugged, faintly put her lips on Jenny’s. Before she turned to her device, she gave her wife a concerned smile and ran one hand over her cheek.  
“I will save you, dearest…”  
She mumbled and her eyes fixed on the tiny display of the device. The molecular structure was animated there, as well as possible ways of destroying it. It was obvious Strax built this, because it seemed to contain the entire collection of weapons he had in his armoury, and suggested what weapon would be best to use.  
Flamethrower was the first suggestion, and suddenly it clicked in Vastra’s head. The monster was some kind of sand, so by attacking it with great amounts of heat, it should melt.  
Immediately Vastra headed down to Strax’ armoury, a room both her and Jenny hardly ever entered, but it was surprisingly clean… Without wasting any thoughts on how Strax kept this room clean, she picked up a flame thrower and brought it out to the cab.  
Now she just had to get Jenny. She couldn’t leave her here, what if the monster came back somehow and took her? Vastra couldn’t risk that.  
Already feeling the cold air slowing her down, Vastra looked her body up and down. Still, she was only wearing her sleeveless nightgown. She’d have to change into something warmer, definitely.

“Jenny… We’re going to find this creature and take it out… Yes? I’m sure we’ll manage to, my dearest…”  
Vastra mumbled as she sat down next to the bed and placed her lips on Jenny’s forehead. After she changed into warmer clothes, she dressed Jenny as well, and Vastra carried her downstairs and sat her down in the cab.  
“I’ll be back in a minute, my sweet…”  
She rushed back in, got her swords, and came back to the cab. There she stopped and gazed at the empty driver’s seat. It had to be, there wasn’t anyone around to drive her cab…  
So, she headed back inside, got a blanket for Jenny so she’d be more comfortable, got her cloak and pulled the hood over half her face. With one more kiss she wrapped Jenny in the blanket and caressed her cheek.  
“Soon everything will be back to normal, my love… As normal as we can have…”  
Vastra sat down on the driver’s seat, internally begging not to crash into anything or endanger Jenny. One of Strax’ tracking devices firmly in her hand, she got a fix on the Sontaran’s location and headed there, slowly. Strax would be able to hold this monster back for a little while, and the last thing Vastra wanted was to endanger her beloved wife because of her basically non-existent driving skills.


	21. Fight the Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strax fights the monster in the streets, keeping it busy until Vastra arrives. Together they manage to weaken the monster and eventually kill it.

„I will destroy you!”  
Strax’ threatening voice sounded through the streets, followed by a loud shot of his laser gun.  
The monster in front of him dodged his attack and broke out into loud laughter, angering the Sontaran.  
“Why are you laughing? You are facing total destruction by a Sontaran warrior!”  
“A WHAT? THIS IS THE PLANET OF A SPECIES CALLED HUMANS! WHAT ARE YOU?”  
It took a step back and looked Strax up and down, slowly, sand coming out of its mouth and falling to the ground. As the streets were only dimly lit, it took some time until the creature realised it had never encountered a “Sontaran” before.  
A shot missed the sandy face by only a few centimetres, and Strax let out a grunt.  
“Stupid gun, must’ve forgotten to calibrate it correctly… That’s the result of Miss Jenny and the Madame taking away my gun privileges…”  
The monster, sensing its opportunity, backed away and stepped into the shadows. It looked around with its empty eyeholes trying to find something. Before it could find what it was looking for, another shot was fired, the laser beam struck the creature’s cheek, and it let out a sharp breath, placed its hand on top of the wound, and as it moved its hand away, the wound was gone.  
“It cannot be! You can renew your body? What species are you??”  
“WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW!?”  
Strax let out a loud “HA!” and broke into grunting laughter, as if he couldn’t believe this creature really just asked him this. Shaking his head, he continued laughing, and the monster just stared at him in confusion.  
“IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, POTATO MAN!”  
“Well, I would have liked to know the name of my enemy before I destroy you… But oh, well… Sand man has to do…”  
With a sigh the Sontaran took aim once again, let out a battle cry, and fired. As the monster stepped back and the blast missed it, Strax let out a loud growl.  
“You will tell me what you did to Miss Jenny this instant, or I will destroy you!”  
“AND HOW WILL YOU DO THAT? NOT A SINGLE OF YOUR BLASTS EVEN CAME CLOSE TO HARMING ME! PATHETIC POTATO MAN!”  
Strax, angered by the monster’s observation and its refusal to leave Jenny alone, dropped his weapon to the ground and started running towards the monster. A look of confusion manifested in the monster’s eyes as the Sontaran ran towards it, but it didn’t move. Shouting a loud “SONTAR HA!” Strax now tried tackling the creature in front of him, but instead of slamming it to the ground, he just passed through it, sand falling to the floor. The confused Sontaran now halted and turned around to face the monster, hoping he’d at least temporarily disabled it.  
“YOU THINK THIS CAN KILL ME!?”  
The monster yelled, and the sand slowly began floating back in shape, grain after grain. Quiet curses and hisses of pain came from the monster, but it didn’t seem to have suffered any lethal wounds, its body rebuilding itself.  
Strax shook his head and let out a sigh of relief. It would take the monster a few minutes to be fully restored. Running towards the enemy and tackling it seemed to be more effective than his laser gun, and Strax did like that. The last time he was able to fight in combat and render his opponent unconscious with his fists was quite a while back, he realised.  
Suddenly, Strax heard a cab coming closer, and a smile curled his lips.  
“I don’t have to kill you… Because I know who is coming, and you will wish I would have killed you. Madame will tear you into pieces for hurting Miss Jenny…”  
“WHAT-“  
“Enjoy your death!”

“Strax! Are you alright!?”  
Vastra yelled as she jumped off the carriage, then she glared at the monster whose body was still rebuilding itself.  
“Yeees, I am fine! I managed to weaken the creature by running directly towards it. And then through it. Where is Miss Jenny? Is she safe in Paternoster Row?”  
“No. I took her with me. She’s in the cab…”  
Vastra mumbled and reached inside the carriage, her hand slightly brushing over Jenny’s cheek, and her heart gave a sting. Anger flaming up in her she reached for one of the swords she brought, and for Strax’ flame thrower.  
“I brought you something, Strax! Catch!”  
With one hand she tossed the weapon, and Strax caught it with a wide smile.  
“Flame thrower! Yeees!”  
“It’s made out of sand…”  
The Silurian started and closed the door of the cab, drew her sword and her blue eyes fixed the monster.  
“Yeah, I got that… Annoying.”  
“You know what happens when you raise the temperature to an extreme? What happens to the sand?”  
Strax thought for a moment, his gaze fell onto his flame thrower again.  
“It dies. Oh! We could’ve just melted it… WITH ACID!”  
“Strax! Concentrate!”  
“YOU CANNOT KILL ME! YOUR GIRL WILL NEVER WAKE AGAIN!”  
Vastra tilted her head to one side, and her tongue flickered through the air, her sword ready to fight.  
“She is my wife! Now leave her alone!”  
“NEVER! I NEED THE HUMANS AS TRANSMITTERS! I WILL SEND A SIGNAL AND MORE WILL COME! AND YOUR WHOLE PLANET WILL BE CONQUERED BY MY PEOPLE!”  
Strax grumbled and glanced over at Vastra who let out a sigh and shook her head.  
“There’s no one coming, don’t you see? You are alone, the only one of your kind… You could just… Stop, and leave my world alone… Leave Jenny alone…”  
Vastra was trying hard not to give into her anger, follow her instincts and kill the monster in front of her for doing Jenny harm and making her suffer. She would not lose herself in this hatred towards it, for Jenny’s sake.  
Blue eyes glanced at Strax and met his, and they both nodded. Silently they had agreed on a plan of some sort, and the Silurian was hoping Strax would wait until she was out of his reach and not burn her together with the monster. Trusting the Sontaran would do what was right, Vastra pointed her blade at the monster again, her eyes narrow, and a low growl escaping her.  
“Your choice. Let her go or we will end you…”  
“NEVER! THE HUMAN IS MINE!”  
“She’s not! Then die!”  
Quickly gaining speed, Vastra ran towards it, swung her blade, and the monster’s arm fell to the ground. Immediately the sand started flowing back in place, and the beast let out a loud cry.  
Before it could even reach out for Vastra, she wielded her sword a second time and left a deep cut on the monster’s back, brought her foot up and kicked it on the street.  
“HOW DO YOU DO THAT, LIZARD WOMAN!?”  
“You hurt my wife… Now suffer the consequences!”  
She answered and pierced the monster’s chest, leaving a hole as she turned her sword around. Her eyes were gleaming dangerously, and every scream the monster let out encouraged her to make it feel even more pain.  
Relentless she let her sword cut through the air, hit the monster’s body, and it let out more pained screams.  
As Vastra’s rage grew, the monster’s did, too, and as soon as its hand was regenerated, it grabbed Vastra’s leg and tried bringing her to the ground.  
The Silurian was pulled back into reality, and she turned her head towards Strax.  
“Strax! Now!”  
“Yeeees! Die! In the name of Sontar!”  
Flames shot out of his weapon, and just a split second before they reached the monster, Vastra swung her sword again, separated the hand holding her from the beast’s body, and jumped backwards, out of range of the flames.  
In front of them, the monster reared up and let out a long, pained scream, its eyes meeting Vastra’s dark ones.  
“YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! NOT LIKE THIS!”  
“Hahahaaa! Dieee! More Flames!”  
Strax yelled and boosted his flame thrower, more and hotter flames coming out of it.  
Vastra could feel the flames warming her cool body, and a smile curled her lips. Justice for the monster hurting Jenny. She had given it a choice, more than once. It didn’t accept her offer and had to suffer the consequences.  
Suddenly, her smile vanished. A choice… Thinking back to her own choice, a chill ran through her body, and she took a small step towards the burning and melting monster.  
What would the Doctor have done to her if she had refused his offer? Would he have killed her? He didn’t seem like that type of man… On the other hand… He did wipe out his entire planet and a grave amount of Daleks, and probably a lot more. Would he have executed her? Or watch her get killed? Just like she was doing it now with Strax and the monster?  
In front of her, the monster was already a lot shorter, most of it already melted.  
“YOU WILL REGRET THIS! STOP!”  
“You hurt Jenny… And refused to change… You threatened this whole planet! I will not let you get away with this!”  
Vastra yelled and watched as the creature’s face slowly melted. Another loud scream came from it, then it ended abruptly, and a loud exhale was to be heard.  
“It’s dead! We won! Haha! Thank Sontar, this is over!”  
Strax exclaimed and turned off his flame thrower, proudly looking at the melted monster. Then his eyes wandered to the Silurian who was still staring at it, clenching one of her fists. Slowly he came over and place his own hand on Vastra’s. She flinched and turned her head to face the Sontaran.  
“Are you fine, madame? Miss Jenny is safe now. It is dead.”  
“I… I’m fine. Yes. It looks like it is… Still, don’t let down your guard… We do not know what abilities this creature might have possessed… I have never seen something like this before…”  
“Neither have I. But now it is dead!”  
Vastra gave Strax a nod and started walking back to the cab.  
“Let’s drive back home…”  
Halfway to the cab, Vastra froze and observed the opening door, her face immediately looking relieved.  
“Jenny…”  
She whispered and her tensed up shoulders relaxed, and she hurried to get to her wife. Before reaching the cab, though, she slowed down and tilted her head.  
Jenny got out the cab, looking around, her katana firmly in her hand. As her eyes met Vastra’s, the Silurian took a step back and her eyes widened.  
“Jenny, are you alright?”


	22. Silurian Instincts

Something was wrong, Vastra could sense it. But she couldn’t put her finger on it, and asked again, stepping towards Jenny this time.  
“Jenny… Are you alright? Look at me, my love…”  
Without any reaction, Jenny continued taking slow steps towards her, her eyes refusing to look at her wife. The way Jenny’s hand clenched around the sword made Vastra even more uneasy, and her breath speeded up.  
“Jenny, talk to me… What is it, dear?”  
“Madame, something is wrong with Miss Jenny. Her eyes.”  
Strax mumbled, grabbing Vastra’s hand and gently squeezing it.  
“Strax, what is wrong? Tell me! Do you know anything about this?!”  
Vastra burst out and glanced at him, refusing to take a step back from Jenny, even when the Sontaran pulled her arm.  
“I will not leave her! I can’t, I-…”  
She was interrupted by a voice that immediately let her eyes turn dark again, and she let out a hiss.  
“NOT SO STRONG NOW, LIZARD WOMAN! I TOOK OVER YOUR MAID’S BODY!”  
“You…”  
Vastra growled and fell in a fighting position, her sword in front of her body.  
“What is the meaning of this!? Why are you doing this? You cannot win!”  
“OH, BUT I CAN TAKE YOU WITH ME! A LIZARD WHO WALKS THE EARTH OUT OF HER TIME… YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!”  
Jenny took a step forward, her eyes cold and almost black. Tiny grains of sand fell from her face from time to time, and although she was moving her mouth, her voice was drowning in the monster’s.  
Vastra’s chest tightened, her heart aching, and she swallowed. Slowly she took a few deep breaths and faced the monster controlling her love’s body again, her eyes burning with anger.  
“I belong here… Strax and Jenny are my home… My family! And you will not take my wife from me!”  
Seeing Jenny’s eyes so dark and without any emotion hurt Vastra, and she took one step backwards, still keeping her sword up in front of her. She couldn’t fight her wife, she wouldn’t. Deep inside the Silurian knew she could tear her into pieces in a heartbeat. But she wouldn’t. Wouldn’t give into her blind fear and hurt the one she loved.  
“I WILL LEAVE THE PART OF DISPOSING OF YOU TO HER, THEN! HAVE FUN!”  
The monster’s loud voice started laughing, until it fell quiet and Jenny stopped in her movements. Vastra let her blade sink, and took a careful step towards her wife, hoping the monster left her alone now that its voice was gone.  
“Jenny? Jenny… It’s me… Vastra…”  
Her eyes anxiously resting on her wife’s face, Vastra tilted her head and waited for a response. As Jenny slowly raised her head, a spark of hope gleamed up in the lizard’s eyes, and she got closer to her, reaching out for her hand.  
“Jenny… It’s me… Everything will be fine… I promise…”  
Vastra waited, her hand gently grasping her wife’s and the Silurian visibly relaxed as she felt Jenny’s hand in hers.  
“Why…”  
Jenny whispered, staring up at Vastra with deep black eyes.  
“Madame, get back!”  
Strax warned her and readied his laser gun he had just picked up again. Vastra flung around and glared at him, letting out a slight hiss.  
“Don’t you dare hurt her! If you do any harm to Jenny, I will make sure your life will end very soon! I will not leave Jenny in the hands of this monster! I can’t just-…”  
Vastra let out a hiss as Jenny’s blade hit her left arm, and she pulled away, staring down at the bleeding wound.  
“Jenny-!”  
She gasped and dropped her weapon, pressing her right hand on the wound. Slight hisses came from her, the wound stinged and she wouldn’t be able to fight with her left arm like that.  
It was a good cut, Vastra thought for a moment. She had taught Jenny well… And now her love was controlled by some nightmare monster and the fighting skills she taught her used against her.  
Worse than her wound, only her chest hurt. She wouldn’t fight Jenny, not even with her life at stake. Her biggest fear, having Jenny’s blood on her hands, being the one responsible for her death. Never ever would she let that happen! There had to be another way to get her love back.  
“Jenny! It’s me! Vastra! Why… Why are you doing this!?”  
For a moment, Jenny had stared at her sword, the blood on the blade, then her eyes met Vastra’s, and her hands started shaking.  
“Why… Why’d yer… kill ‘er?”  
Jenny pressed and came closer, Vastra backed away.  
What was Jenny talking about? Who was killed? Who did she kill? Was Jenny caught in a nightmare while fighting?  
“You… You took Vastra from me… You killed ‘er!”  
“Jenny! I’m alive, I am right here! My love, please wake up… What you see isn’t real… I didn’t leave… I… I would never…”  
“You killed ‘er! An’ now I’ll kill yer! No one takes me wife from me an’ survives!”  
Jenny speeded up, now running towards Vastra. Suddenly, a blast right between the two of them made Jenny jump back.  
“Whoever you are who took over Miss Jenny’s body! You will not harm Madame! Prepare to die!”  
Vastra jumped up and blocked Strax’ aim, shielding Jenny from his view.  
“Strax! Stop this! Don’t you dare hurt Jenny!”  
Strax shook his head.  
“That is not Miss Jenny. It is the monster. It is inside of her! Get out of the way, Madame!”  
“STRAX! Lower the gun! NOW!”  
Vastra burst out desperately, her tongue flicking through the air, ready to render him unconscious if he refused.  
“But…”  
“NOW!”  
Her tongue flicked again, closer this time, and the Sontaran dropped the gun.  
Relieved Vastra let out a sigh and gave him a small smile.  
“Thank you… Now run…”  
“A Sontaran doesn’t run!”  
“Then don’t interfere! I will get Jenny back… I will not harm her… Let alone kill her… Never…”  
Vastra’s voice fell quiet as she turned back around, barely dodging one more swing of Jenny’s sword.  
“Jenny… I know you are in there… I am right here! You don’t have to do this!”  
Her heart was racing. Hit after hit she dodged, jumped back, trying to bring distance between the two of them. Vastra had never had to fight Jenny, but she knew how dangerous her wife could be with a katana, saw her kill criminals for the past years.  
As the sharp blade struck Vastra a second time, she let out a pained wince and sunk to the ground.  
Her instincts wanted to kick in, the Silurian blood boiling with rage about being hurt and not fighting back. Desperately the lizard tried pushing her instincts down, telling herself she couldn’t hurt Jenny, because it would hurt her so much to cause her love any pain.  
‘It’s easy, Vastra… Just tear her apart, use your Silurian origin, stop trying to protect a human by letting yourself get hurt, kill her. She is hurting you, there’s nothing left of the person you love, she will die soon anyways, she’s only human… Kill her…’ A voice in Vastra’s head shouted, and she violently shook her head. She couldn’t do that, she loved Jenny! She couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt her.  
“Jenny… It’s me… Please, remember… I am right here… I know you are still in there, my love…”  
“Why’d you kill ‘er!? Why’d yer take ‘er from me!? You destroyed the only ‘appiness I ever ‘ad! Yer took everything from me! I ‘ave nothin’ left to lose! You took it all! An’ now you will die…”  
Jenny started sobbing and swung her sword, in front of her she saw the woman from her nightmares, unarmed, cowering in front of her, bleeding. The burning rage inside of her only grew with every strike she landed. Her hatred for the woman who killed her wife, who made her whole world shatter in the matter of seconds was all she could feel, it even numbed her pain about her loss.  
Fear grew inside Vastra, the sudden realisation that she couldn’t keep on doing nothing, she’d die soon if she didn’t disarm her wife.  
“Jenny! I don’t want to fight you! I…”  
She let out a sharp hiss at the cold air hitting all her wounds, four, in total. Only the one on her arm was deep enough to make her worry about it bleeding out, the others weren’t that bad, she had been able to dodge most of the attacks so far.  
“I… I’m sorry…”  
She whispered and brought her hands up, ready to attack Jenny with her claws.  
‘Yes. Kill her! You are a proud Silurian warrior! You cannot be killed by some human! Cut her into pieces!’ The voice in her head demanded again, and Vastra, ignoring the horrible stinging in her chest, looked down at her hands.  
She would have Jenny’s blood on her hands. This she would never be able to forgive herself, would hate herself for the rest of her life.  
Around Vastra, everything turned dark. Only her fear for her own life filling her now, and she let out a loud hiss, jumped forward, ready to sink her claws into her opponent’s flesh.  
“KILL HER!”  
The monster’s voice ripped her back into reality, and a split second before her hand would have reached her love, the Silurian pulled back and stared at her own hands in shock. Relieved she looked at her cut off claws and sighed. She could have killed Jenny. With this one strike, if she hadn’t cut off her claws… Her last defence was gone, she got rid of it for Jenny. Slowly she turned her head to Jenny. Her wife was standing there, sword still raised, ready to strike again.  
No, the being speaking and doing this wasn’t Jenny, it was the monster. This was what the monster wanted after not being able to control the planet. Take someone with it, either it being Vastra or Jenny, it didn’t care. Bloodshed and pain was what it wanted to cause.  
“Madame, should I-…”  
“NO! Leave Jenny alone, Strax! I… I don’t need your help!”  
“The boy is going to kill you!”  
Strax yelled and reached for his weapon again, Vastra’s tongue suddenly flicking against his hand, and he pulled back.  
“Stay away from her!”  
“AFTER ALL… YOU STILL WISH TO PROTECT THE HUMAN WHO IS HURTING YOU!?”  
Vastra let out a desperate laugh and took a step back, holding her arm again. Her breath was fast and she could feel the cold slowing her down. Had this fight been on a warm summer’s day, Vastra would have been able to dodge more of the human’s attacks.  
“You cannot make me kill her… I… I won’t! I refuse to hurt Jenny! And I don’t care what happens to me! I will not hurt her!”  
Limping backwards, Vastra glanced into Jenny’s eyes again, immediately feeling her heart sting painfully.  
“Jenny… Please, remember… I am here… This monster is showing you horrible things… Nightmares… They aren’t reality, my dearest… Come back to me… Please…”  
Her voice wasn’t more than a faint whisper, tears burning in her eyes.  
Jenny came closer. Her sword firmly in one hand, she focused on the Silurian’s upper body and struck Vastra’s chest.  
The lizard stumbled backwards and crashed into the wall behind her, she sunk down and held her chest with only her right hand, her left one being useless now. She wasn’t able to move it anymore.  
“Jenny…”  
Vastra whispered as she choked. Immense pain came from her wounded chest, and she didn’t even try to get back up, moving around now would only cause her to die faster.  
“Madame!”  
“Strax… No weapon… Your… Medical instruments… Do you have them with you?”  
She coughed again and looked up at Jenny weakly.  
A tear was rolling down Jenny’s cheek, and the Silurian’s eyes widened.  
“Jenny?”  
“KILL HER!”  
The monster demanded, and Jenny lifted her hands, hesitantly. More tears were forcing their way out of Jenny’s eyes.  
“NOW!”  
The blade struck down and Vastra shut her eyes, awaiting her inevitable fate.  
“N… No…”  
She suddenly heard Jenny’s voice whisper, and she opened one of her eyes to look at her.  
Mid-air the blade had stopped, Jenny’s hands violently shaking.  
“Jenny?”  
Vastra asked relieved.  
“V… Vastra…”  
A smile appeared on Jenny’s face at the sight of her wife, and more tears broke from her eyes.  
“NO! KILL HER! GET BACK INTO YOUR NIGHTMARE IMMEDIATELY!”  
The shrill voice of the beast sounded, and Jenny’s hands started trembling even more.  
“No… I… I ain’t… Killin’… Me wife… Ge’ out of me ‘ead…”  
“Jenny! It’s you! I’m so glad, I-…”  
As Vastra tried getting up, a painful sting let her sink down and she pressed her arm against the wound on her chest harder, hoping to somehow keep it from bleeding.  
“Madame, I got it!”  
“Your… Flame thrower, Strax… When… When the monster… Leaves Jenny’s body… Destroy it… Without… Without harming her…”  
“Understood!”  
Jenny’s sword fell down next to Vastra, she brought her hands up to her head.  
“Ge’ out of me ‘ead! Yer ain’t makin’ me ‘urt me wife! Stop this, yer monster! I ain’t never killin’ Vastra!”  
“FOOLISH HUMAN! YOU WILL OBEY! YOU ARE WEAK!”  
“I ain’t weak… No one ever told yer ‘ow strong we ‘umans can be? Yer ‘urt Vastra… Yer gave me nightmares… An’ I ain’t forgivin’ yer that! Yer won’t get in me ‘ead no more! Leave!”  
Jenny shouted and with a shrill screech a yellowish shadow left her body, and she sunk to the ground.  
Ignoring her hurting chest Vastra wrapped her arm around Jenny and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, burying her hand in Jenny’s hair. It felt so good to have Jenny here, and part of Vastra’s pain faded away. She didn’t hurt Jenny… She kept her wife safe even with her own life at stake, managed to overcome her instincts to save herself.  
Hurting Jenny, she could not have coped with that. Her own wounds would heal, the physical ones. But doing her dearest love any harm and scarring her own heart, it would have been a wound she would never have been able to heal.  
“Die in the name of Sontar! SONTAR HAAAA!”  
Strax yelled and the yellowish figure in front of Vastra and Jenny lit up in flames, until it faded away.  
“Is it gone, madame?”  
“T is… I can feel it… T’s dead…”  
Jenny mumbled and sunk against Vastra’s shoulder, closing her eyes tiredly.  
Strax hurdled over to them and observed Vastra’s wounds.  
“You are hu-…”  
Shush. Just… Do what you have to do… I… I don’t want Jenny to worry…”  
Vastra made a slight nod to the woman resting against her shoulder, drifting in and out of sleep, this time not induced by the monster, but a sleep of exhaustion.  
With a silent nod Strax kneeled down and stopped the bleeding on Vastra’s chest and on her arm.  
“I will have to take proper care of it at home. This is my old scanner; it is not quite as good as my new one…”  
“Nevermind… Let’s head back home… Jenny needs rest…”  
Strax helped the Silurian on her feet and gave her a concerned look.  
“You need rest, too, madame.”  
“Jenny, are you okay? We are going back home, my love… Come…”  
Vastra gently wrapped her arm around her wife and gave her a soft smile. She still couldn’t move her left arm, it would need proper healing at home, but that was a problem for later.  
“Vastra… Yer… Yer ‘urt… Ain’t yer…?”  
“Shush, not important, my love… Everything is fine…”  
Tears ran down Jenny’s cheeks as she looked up at Vastra’s pale face, and she placed one of her hands against the lizard’s cheek.  
“Yer so pale… An’ cold… We… gotta get ‘ome…”  
“We are heading back home… My love…”  
Behind them, Strax picked up the swords and his own weapons and carried them to the carriage, opening the door for his madame and Jenny. Quietly he helped them both into the cab and then placed his weapons next to them.  
“We are heading home as fast as possible.”  
The cab started moving and Vastra wrapped the blanket she had Jenny wrapped in before around both of them, holding Jenny close.  
“Vastra… Yer… Yer ‘urt… I-…”  
“Shh… Sleep, my love… We will arrive home soon… You should rest… After all of this…”  
The Silurian brought her hand up to Jenny’s temple and with a soft smile she pressed against it and watched her wife close her eyes.  
“Jenny… My love… I’m glad you are fine… I love you…”  
Vastra whispered and cuddled closer. The cold of the night had made her slow, and she could still feel the deep wounds the sword had caused hurting. It would take some time for them to heal properly, but she would have that time.  
All that was important was that Jenny was safe now. Her nightmares would fade, and everything would go back to normal.  
“I was scared, you know, my love… For… For your life… I… I don’t think I could have been able to lose you… Not to… This monster… Not to the darkness, and not to myself… There was a part of me… That told me to kill you, to save myself… But Jenny, my heart… I would never hurt you… And I think… If I had… I could never forgive myself… I love you, Jenny…”  
Vastra mumbled and placed a soft kiss on Jenny’s cheek before tiredly placing her head against Jenny’s and closing her eyes.  
The carriage was slowly driving home, Strax was keeping quiet, as if he knew they needed this right now. Usually, he was yelling at the horses for mostly unknown reasons, but this time he stayed silent, and Vastra, already at the verge of falling asleep, reminded herself to thank Strax for this later.  
Cuddled up against her wife’s chest, one of Jenny’s arms around her body, Vastra now closed her eyes and fell asleep.  
This night, their carriage drove through the streets without any noise besides the wheels clattering on the road, leaving the fight scene behind, and heading home to their house in Paternoster Row.


	23. An Ancient Warrior and the Human she fell in Love with

As the cab stopped, Vastra flung her eyes open and lifted her head from Jenny’s chest. A painful sting in her arm and chest reminded her of her wounds and she glanced at her wife.  
Jenny had her eyes closed, her breath was steady, and she seemed relaxed in sleep, not scared anymore.  
“Madame? We’ve arrived…”  
Strax mumbled and opened the cab door, holding out his hand for her to take.  
The lizard let out a hiss as cold air crept under the cosy blanket she and Jenny were wrapped in, and she nodded.  
“Take Jenny upstairs… Prepare tea for when she wakes up, please… And… And lit the fires…”  
“Yes, Madame. Exit the carriage so I can bring the boy to bed…”  
Softly Vastra placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead and took the blanket off her wife’s shoulders, wrapping herself in it in an attempt to warm herself up.  
Together with Strax who was carrying her wife, Vastra made her way to the door and opened it, immediately heading to one of the fireplaces. Only a few gleaming logs were heating the room, Vastra got as close as she could without burning herself and let out a relaxed sigh.  
It was over. The monster was gone, and their lives would return back to what was normal for them. A smile curled Vastra’s lips as she thought about this. Others could never call this normal, would consider them a freak show, a bunch of outcasts, and that they were… Three outcasts from different species, and somehow they managed to find each other and grew together as something of a family.  
What happened this night was something Vastra would rather forget… She had been so close to losing herself, so close to hurting her wife, killing her… So close to giving the monster what it wanted.  
They survived. Somehow, they all got out of this alive…  
Deep inside the Silurian wished Jenny couldn’t remember it, wanted to bear this on her own, not tell her about what had happened. She could explain the wounds, surely… But what would she say if Jenny blamed herself? It wasn’t her fault. It was no one’s fault, really. Only the monster was to blame for this chaos. Vastra wouldn’t let Jenny blame herself for this, this was clear for her.

“Madame? Miss Jenny is in bed now. She… She woke up and asked where you are…”  
“I will be with her soon… Just… Have to take care of… Something.”  
Strax nodded and handed Vastra some bandages and his scanner.  
“Your wounds.”  
“I’m fine… I just have to…”  
She fell quiet and gulped. Hiding things from Jenny would never end well, but at least for now, at least for this night, Jenny shouldn’t have to worry any more.  
“You can take the night and tomorrow off… Please don’t wake us at six in the morning with some grenade tests.”  
“Yes, Madame!”  
With that Strax went to his armoury, leaving Vastra alone in front of the fire.

Quickly the Silurian grabbed the bandages and tried wrapping them around her arm and chest, failing miserably as she could only use one arm. After four attempts she gave up, took them upstairs and knocked softly on the door to their bedroom.  
“Jenny?”  
Her voice sounded through the wooden door, and Jenny’s face lit up.  
“Vastra…”  
She replied and sat up with a soft smile, watching Vastra come in. The lizard placed the bandages down and got into bed, wrapping her arm around Jenny.  
Quietly she buried her head in Jenny’s hair and took deep breaths. Jenny felt so warm, so alive. Two arms wrapped themselves around Vastra’s body, and the Silurian let out a relaxed sound.  
“You’re safe…”  
She whispered and held Jenny closer, fearing she could fade away again if she didn’t hold her close.  
Jenny’s embrace tightened as well, and Vastra winced quietly, immediately cutting herself off.  
“Vastra??”  
“I’m alright…”  
“No, wot’s wrong? Yer ‘urt, ain’t ya…”  
Two concerned brown eyes glanced at Vastra and tried making out what was wrong, the fire throwing its light on Vastra’s pale face.  
“I… I’m just… Cold.”  
Vastra finished with a look down on her pale green skin. After, her eyes stayed fixed on her hands, on her claws to be more precise, and she quickly hid them away.  
“T’s not jus’ that, ain’t it… Sumthin’ else… Please, tell me… Yer ‘urt, ain’t ya… Stubborn lizard… Jus’ tell me…”  
Jenny sighed and cupped Vastra’s face with both her hands. The green scales were cold, way colder than usual, and the lizard kept avoiding her eyes, always glancing down.  
The young human got up, pulled Vastra out of bed, and sat down in front of the fire with her.  
“Warm up… An’ then tell me… Okay?”  
Vastra only let out a grumbling sound and cuddled up in Jenny’s lap, staring into the flames.  
Jenny’s warm fingers started caressing her cheek, until suddenly they wandered to her arm. Vastra pulled back and covered her wound, her breath faster than normal.  
“Vastra…!”  
Jenny’s eyes were fixed on her wife’s arm now, and her eyes went wide.  
“Yer ‘urt… Yer arm… An’… An’ yer chest… Show me… Please, Vastra, me luv, show me…”  
With a silent growl the Silurian got closer again and sat in front of Jenny, letting her look at the deep cuts that were only partially healed by Strax’ old medical device.  
Vastra couldn’t look at Jenny’s face, she continued staring to the ground. Of course, Jenny would notice. How could she have been so stupid to think she wouldn’t?  
“It was the monster… Out… On the streets… There… There was a fight…”  
“No… No, no, no…”  
Jenny started and her grip around Vastra’s hurt arm tightened. She shook her head and looked at Vastra’s face, desperately trying to have the lizard’s eyes look back into hers.  
“Those wounds… They… They look like from my…”  
Two scaled hands were gently placed on Jenny’s cheeks, and Vastra turned her head to face her wife now, softly she placed their foreheads against each other and looked Jenny deep in the eyes.  
“Jenny… This was the monster, my love… I’ll be fine… Strax… Took care of them, they are not going to kill me, dearest…”  
“They… Were worse…?”  
Jenny gasped and tears rolled down her face. Her shaking hands let go of Vastra’s arm and now softly brushed over the Silurian’s scales in her face instead.  
“I… I ‘urt yer… I did tis to yer, din’t I? I ‘urt you… Forgive me, Vastra…”  
“NO! Jenny! You saved me! The monster took control over your body, but you fought it back! You stopped it from… from killing me…”  
Vastra now shouted and held Jenny closer, pressed her wife against her hurting chest. Seeing Jenny’s tears only added to her pain, and she hoped she could calm her wife down with just being close and reassuring her she was fine.  
“I did tis… T was all me…”  
Jenny’s silent voice reached Vastra’s ears, and the lizard stubbornly shook her head and placed soft kisses on the human’s head.  
“No, my love… I told you… None of this is your fault. Nothing. You are not to blame for any of this. Please, my dear… Don’t ever think that… I… I got hurt, yes. But I… I protected you… From… Being killed…”  
“’ow?”  
Jenny sat up and looked deep into her wife’s eyes. Vastra was struggling with herself, she felt guilty for something, and Jenny couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. With a soft sigh she let her head fall, and took Vastra’s hands in hers.  
Quietly she ran her fingers across the scales, closed her eyes and just felt Vastra being close. The scales were chilly, and so familiar to Jenny, she knew exactly where which scale belonged, and a smile appeared on her lips.  
Vastra sat there in silence and watched her love calm down just by touching her hands. The smile on Jenny’s lips made Vastra’s face take an amused expression, and just as she leaned in to place her lips on her wife’s forehead, Jenny gasped and grasped the Silurian’s hands tight.  
“Vastra… Wot ‘appened to yer ‘ands?”  
“My love?”  
The lizard asked confused. She tilted her head and felt two brown eyes piercing her in concern.  
Jenny brushed her fingers over Vastra’s fingertips again and again, her shoulders started trembling.  
“Wot ‘appened?? Yer… Yer ‘ands got… Wounds… An’… Yer claws-…”  
Right. That.  
Vastra lowered her head and glanced down at her hands as well, observing the thin cuts her desperate attempt of getting rid of her claws had left. She couldn’t explain it, couldn’t find the words to explain why she did it. But she knew. It was for Jenny, so she wouldn’t hurt her ever again, that she had sworn to herself. Never again did she want her wife’s blood on her hands, not even a bit.  
“Tell me… Please, Vastra… We… We ‘ave to talk ‘bout things like that…”  
“I…”  
The Silurian started and didn’t know what to say. It was all so clear for her; her claws were dangerous because they hurt Jenny, and if they were gone, she wouldn’t harm her. But the concern in Jenny’s eyes, it pierced Vastra’s heart and guilt overcame her, she couldn’t look up at her wife’s face. She knew Jenny was looking at her, could imagine her face well enough, the worry in her eyes.  
“’o did tis to yer?”  
Jenny quietly asked, her voice trembling. She was clearly ready to rip off that person’s head, Vastra thought to herself and a smile crossed her face at that.  
Her wife would most definitely beat up anyone who dared hurt Vastra, and it was the same with her. Hadn’t she tried killing the monster for doing harm to her love?  
Quickly her smile vanished as her gaze fell onto her hands again, her terribly cut claws, and Jenny’s trembling hands clinging to hers. Only when tears fell on her scaled hands the lizard lifted her head to look at her wife.  
Shakily she sat there, biting her lip to stop herself from sobbing out loud, eyes twitching between Vastra’s hands and her face, darting across the room as if she were counting on something emerging from the shadows to hurt the Silurian.  
“’o did tis… I… I don’ want yer to be ‘urt… I… Please… ‘m scared. Wot if ‘oever ‘urt you comes back an’…”  
Jenny’s speaking was interrupted by sobs, each causing Vastra’s heart to sting.  
Slowly she leaned in and brushed her cool scales against her wife’s cheek, let their faces touch. Her scarred thumbs gently stroked over the human’s warm tense hands, and a soft purring sound came from her throat. All of those gestures were attempts to calm Jenny down, to take her fear away.  
Deep inside Vastra knew she had to tell her about what had happened. That she was the one who cut her claws, in order to avoid hurting Jenny ever again. This day had already been so much… So many tears Jenny had shed, tears Vastra wished she could have stopped.  
They had both had a long day, and now that they were back to normal, what was normal for them, at least, Vastra didn’t want to have Jenny worry for even one more second. It was exhausting, and she knew, they should talk about it to close this case, close this chapter of their lives, this adventure they had, and move on.  
Vastra wasn’t weak. Not with Jenny by her side, Jenny who was her strength, her heart. But with her wife possessed by her enemy, she had not felt this helpless in a long time… The reason she got hurt so badly was because she refused to fight back, refused to hurt Jenny. She was glad she didn’t harm her. Her own wounds, the physical ones, would heal. Living with the knowledge that she, not possessed by anything but her blind rage and fear, hurt or even killed her wife would have been far worse. Her heart would have shattered.  
A broken heart was dangerous, so Vastra had heart and read. She had been investigating in cases where someone with a broken heart suddenly became violent, insanity getting a hold of them, people who could not be argued with in any way.  
And those had been apes, humans. Oh, what dangers a heartbroken Silurian warrior might bring… She started shivering at the thought.  
Would the Doctor come for her? Kill her? Watch her get killed? Scold her? Hold one of his big speeches?  
The lizard had heard tales of Timelords using and abusing their powers over timestreams to not only kill, but to erase people from existence. Of Timelords who changed the past of their victims, of people they wanted gone…  
Would the Doctor go as far as to do this if she were to turn against humanity and become a threat? If she lost Jenny and couldn’t take it? If she couldn’t deal with her broken heart, which she was sure of she couldn’t?

With a soft whine she now wrapped her arms around the woman in front of her, and buried her head in Jenny’s chest, longing for her to stay close, to tell her it was alright, that she would never leave, and that Vastra would never have to be alone.  
Jenny still had so many questions, wanted answers to her questions, wanted to know who hurt her wife, but as she clung to her like this, her cold hands holding her tight, Jenny let out a soft sigh and wiped her tears away. Gently she placed her head down on Vastra’s, pressed a kiss on her head and carefully ran her hands up and down the Silurian’s back.  
Feeling her wife shudder in her arms, Jenny took deep, calm breaths, and soon Vastra’s breath started matching hers, they both calmed down a little.  
“t’s a’right… I ain’t leavin’… Always gonna be wif yer… Don’ worry… ‘m ‘ere…”  
She whispered, as if she had read Vastra’s mind, knowing exactly what she needed to hear.  
It was all so clear in her head now. Every memory of the past few hours.

She had left the carriage, with her sword in hand. The air tasted like something had been burned, and Vastra was standing there, armed, and Strax a bit in the back. As she approached Vastra, her wife was calling out for her, asked if she was alright. And then, suddenly, Jenny had started attacking her. Deliberately. Without any reason behind it, all she could see was Vastra backing away slowly.  
Remembering back, she could see the fear in Vastra’s blue eyes. The way Vastra’s whole body froze for a split second whenever their gazes met. And she could see the blood, feel as she left deep and not so deep cuts on Vastra’s body. She could smell the blood, and the fear…  
And there was Strax, yelling something about a monster, pointing his weapon at Jenny. Every single time, Vastra was shielding her… And every single time, Jenny was attacking her, until her wife stumbled against a wall. She was begging for Jenny to “remember”, and then…

“Jenny?”  
Vastra quietly asked, she had noticed her wife’s trembling shoulders, and glanced up in worry.  
“Jenny!”  
She yelped out it panic and shook her wife, begging her to look at her.  
Was the monster still not gone!? Was it still torturing Jenny!?  
Fear arose in the lizard, fear of losing Jenny to something she wasn’t able to fight, and she brought her left hand up to Jenny’s cheek, gently stroking her. Stubbornly she ignored the pain striking through her body as her heartbeat speeded up, her nostrils started twitching, and her eyes observed Jenny closely, still waiting for the brown eyes to find hers.  
Jenny could only see all of her memories, all those pictures of Vastra being hurt by her own hands, this fear in her eyes, and heard her begging for her life, and for Jenny to come back to her.  
Only when she felt cool lips on hers and her fast breathing was stopped abruptly, Jenny got ripped out of those pictures and scenes playing out in front of her.  
“Jenny… Are you alright, my love!? You… You suddenly started-“  
“’m a’right now… Thank yer… I… I saw it all… Me ‘urtin’ yer… Yer were so scared… No sword, no defense… Yer coulda killed me wif yer claws, though… But yer din’t… I… I dunno ‘ow I can make up for… Tryin’ to KILL yer…”  
This had all been the monster, not Jenny. Not Jenny’s fault.  
“Jenny… I told you before, my dearest… This wasn’t you… It was the monster… It… It only wants you to think you did-… It… It wanted to destroy, my love… And… When it couldn’t destroy the whole planet as part of its plan, it… decided it wanted to take someone with it. But it didn’t succeed… Because you were there, my sweet… You, Jenny Flint, saved me…”  
“I ‘urt-“  
“You saved me… Fighting the monster as it got inside your head… Please, my love…”  
Vastra whispered and closed her eyes, her forehead resting against Jenny’s now. The stinging pain in her chest and arm had only gotten worse, she really had to take proper medical care of them tomorrow first thing in the morning… Not tonight, tonight she would only sit here with Jenny, and hold her until they both fell asleep, as they had done so often.  
“Yer… Din’t attack me… Yer… Look’d at yer ‘ands an’… Ran towards me, but then yer stopped an’… Looked at yer ‘ands… Relieved…”  
“I… I could never hurt you, my heart… I refused to… My… Instincts wanted me to kill… Wanted to fight back as the monster attacked me… But… I…”  
She let out a long sigh and opened her eyes, one hand resting against her wife’s cheek.  
“I cut my claws.”  
“You wot!?”  
Jenny burst out and backed away, her eyes widened in disbelief. Slowly her gaze wandered to Vastra’s hands and then back at her face again.  
A green shade of shame coloured the Silurian’s cheeks, and she was now staring down at her claws as well. They looked horribly, Vastra thought, but at least she couldn’t harm Jenny in any way…  
“When I hurt you in the carriage-“  
“Told yer ‘t was barely ‘nythin’… Thas… Why yer… Did it?”  
“I didn’t want to have… Your blood on my hands… It is…”  
She gulped and crawled closer to her wife, reached out for her hand and took it, pushing through her pain.  
This fear had always been constant in her head: Being the one responsible for Jenny’s death, not only by endangering her while being on a case, but by losing herself, relying on her instinct, turning into a monster, and slaying her in sheer bloodthirst.  
“I… Often fear to… Hurt you.”  
Vastra started, her grip tightening around Jenny’s hand.  
“In nightmares I… See you in front of me, hurt, dying… Dead… And my hands covered in blood! I… I don’t ever want that to happen, my love… I… I cannot take losing you…”  
“Shh… ‘m ‘ere… Always will be… I ain’t dyin’ that easily, ya know… Promise, I ain’t leavin’ yer never… Yes, me luv?”  
Jenny mumbled and pulled Vastra close, wrapped both arms around her.  
“Thank yer for tellin’ me… I understand… Jus’… Gotta be careful, eh? An’… If yer insist on ‘avin’ yer claws short, let me ‘elp you the next time…”  
“They are very sensitive and-“  
“I’ll be gentle, then… Not like yer, cuttin’ yer scales an’ leavin’ wounds… Stupid lizard, can’t do anythin’ on yer own, hu…”  
Vastra let out a laugh, and her head sunk against Jenny’s shoulder.  
Jenny was back. Her Jenny Flint… Not trembling and shaking in her arms, but scolding her for how stupid she had been to cut her own claws like this.  
“Now… Let me look at yer wounds an’ take proper care of ‘em… Ain’t no good in ‘em takin’ months to ‘eal…”  
Jenny got up and grabbed the bandages Vastra had dropped earlier while Vastra was quietly removing her bloodstained shirt.  
Gently the human started wrapping the bandages around her wife’s chest, making sure it wasn’t too tight, and took care of her arm as well.  
With a soft kiss on Vastra’s arm she got back up and held her hand out for the lizard to take. Vastra took it and hauled herself on her feet, only to trip and fall back down, together with Jenny.  
They both started laughing, and Jenny was the first to sit back up.  
“Glad yer tol’ me… ‘bout yer nightmares… Ain’t makin’ yer live through that ‘ell, I swear…”  
“What… What exactly did you dream? See? When… The monster took control over you, my love? You… Looked so exhausted, and the way you… Held onto me, dearest… I…”  
Vastra’s voice broke and she placed her head in her wife’s lap, reaching up with her right hand to play with Jenny’s hair while she was talking.  
“I… Saw streets… Dark, wet, all normal… But then… A lady wif a big sword was there… Knocked me out an’ made sure I couln’t move… Then she went an’… I ‘eard yer shout at ‘er cos yer thought she killed me… An’… An’ when… When yer saw I weren’t dead, yer turned ‘round an’… She ‘urt yer… Struck ‘er sword right across yer chest…”  
Lost in thought, Jenny’s fingers lightly traced the wound on Vastra’s chest, and she took a few breaths before continuing.  
“Jus’ like tis ‘ere… An’… Yer were dying! In fron’ of me! I… I don’ want that… See yer die…”  
“Doing my best to stay alive, my dearest… I promise…”  
Vastra mumbled and her hand wandered to Jenny’s cheeks, wiping off the few tears that escaped her eyes.  
“I will not die, I promise… As long as your heart is beating… Mine will, too… My dearest…”  
Jenny gave her a weak nod and placed her hand on top of Vastra’s, leaning into the cool touch of the scaled hand. Her eyes closed; Jenny nodded.  
“t’s all over now… No monster ‘ere anymore… Jus’ us… An’ we some’ow solved the case… Looks like we gotta visit all of ‘em people soon, collectin’ our payment fer the work… Should all be back to normal, ain’t it?”  
“Yes, my love… I think so… Strax will be rather delighted to hear he is going to see Billy again…”  
A smile curled Jenny’s lips as she thought about their Sontaran butler and the little boy.  
“Got along well, those two, ain’t it?”  
“Yes, my dear… I rather think they did…”  
One eyebrow raised, a sly smile on her face, Jenny glanced down into her wife’s eyes.  
“Yer ‘appy to see ‘im again? Or yer gonna eat ‘im if ‘e ain’t nice?”  
Vastra sat up immediately, her arms now crossed in front of her chest.  
“I already told both of you, I do not eat children!”  
She immediately complained, trying her best to look serious.  
Jenny gave her a toothy grin and placed a kiss on Vastra’s cheek, immediately feeling the serious expression fade, and a soft purr filled the room, encouraging Jenny to continue treating her wife with soft kisses.  
Eventually, Vastra pulled one of the blankets from the bed, wrapped herself in it, and lay down in her wife’s lap, glancing up at her with half closed eyes, a happy smile on her lips.  
“Dearest love… Can you…”  
She let out a yawn.  
“… Tell me a story?”  
“Like yer do wif lill ‘ape children’, ‘ow yer always put it?”  
The Silurian didn’t even bother growling at Jenny, knowing she would keep her amused grin anyways, and just nodded tiredly.  
“A’ight... Hm… Lemme see… Wot ‘bout a story of an ancient warrior fallin’ in love wif ‘nother bein’?”  
Another tired nod, and Jenny stroked over Vastra’s scales with one of her hands, hearing a soft purr fill the room again.  
“So, years ago, tis ancient warrior woke up on Earth… She ‘ad bin on Earth before, but t was diff’rent back then… An’ as she woke up, ev’rythin’ was diff’rent… The air, the land, the sea, all of it… Tis warrior was from a race of lizard people, an’ they all were still sleepin’ when the warrior awoke… An’ when she ‘ad built some life, it came that she saved sumone… A woman, an’… They fell in love… Odd couple, some would say… But their love was true, and…”  
Jenny glanced down. Vastra’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing regularly. She kept on telling stories, until her eyes became heavy, and knowing her nightmares would not haunt her again this night, she fell asleep, still holding her wife close, and in their dreams they met. An ancient warrior and the human she fell in love with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... This whole fanfiction was quite a journey. It is possibly the longest fanfiction I have ever written... I did not plan it to be this long, actually, but well, happens. I'm very content that I managed to actually finish a fic (for once) that is not a OneShot but a multi-chapter story... I hope you all enjoyed reading this! Please let me know in the comments what you thought of this fic!  
> (I noticed I really suck at writing action scenes... XD)  
> Overall I'm really pleased with this fic, and I'm surprised I was able to finish it this fast. I started in late September, about five months back, I think. I honestly thought it would take me longer to finish this! Writing this was so much fun (and sometimes a real pain... Argh...), and I definitely noticed my writing improving the more I wrote. This encouraged me to write more fanfictions, which I hope you will enjoy as well...  
> Again, thank you so much for reading! Kudos to you all for sitting through this fic without going insane, because there were certain parts where I nearly went insane while writing it...  
> Have a nice day/night!


End file.
